Hengeyokai
by Thrythlind
Summary: Bruised, battered, and dying. Ranma Saotome shares these traits with a fox spirit in the wake of a battle after becoming cursed. With its last breath, the fox saves Ranma's life, but to what effect?
1. New Life, New Duty

A small black-haired girl skulked through the back  
woods of China, drenched and soaking.  
"Stupid old man," Ranma muttered ringing out "her"  
gi. "Just had ta come ta this place." She sat down  
on a rock and grumbled as she slipped the gi back over  
her body. "Ya'd think he'd have known well enough ta  
research why they were called cursed springs."  
She hunched over, not crying, most definitely not  
crying. Her voice was catching because she was angry  
at the old man, she was not crying like some weak  
little girl.  
The sound of a crash from the springs caught her  
attention and she was up and running, a look of rage  
on her face. That had to be the old man!  
  
************  
  
"Give up little fox!" the demon roared, laughing.   
"You cannot beat us, no matter what shape you take."  
The demon was a form of empty black and white in  
the approximate shape of something human, but it had  
no true form. All about the scene similar demons  
crowded in on a red-haired woman carrying a katana.  
Early! They had come early, before she could find  
eleven others to fill all the posts of the circle. No  
matter how adaptable she was, they were right. Alone  
she couldn't take them all.  
She panted and considered her options, and found  
herself only one. Destroy at least one of them and  
the invasion would be delayed. Perhaps long enough  
for another circle to start and finish this time.  
"Come on then!" she shouted, growing taller, voice  
roaring to match the demons as she burst into a  
fierce, cutting wind. "Let us see how many of you are  
destroyed before I die!"  
  
************  
  
"I knew you'd come back here old man!!" Ranma  
shouted as she burst into the clearing. "Now get  
ready to..." She stopped as she saw that the noise  
had not come from her father as she had assumed, but a  
young man, maybe two years older than her. A young  
man that was currently gripping the guide by the  
throat.  
"Stay out of this girl," the young man said,  
smirking confidently. "This isn't your fight."  
"Hey, who you calling girl?!" Ranma demanded.  
"Oh, I suppose you had a dunk in the pools then,"  
the man said.  
"Yeah, whatever," Ranma snapped striding forward.   
"Now put the guy down and get out of here before I  
tear ya ta pieces."  
"If you interfere with me," the man said. "Hn, you  
won't like it."  
"Put your money wear your mouth is pal," Ranma  
retorted.  
"If you insist," the young man said, letting go of  
the Jusenkyo guide. "We'll finish this after I have  
my fun with this fresh meat." He cracked his  
knuckles.  
Neither warriors paid attention to their chi senses  
noting the fierce battle taking place in the spirit  
world.  
  
***********  
  
The fox paused in one of her true forms, a small,  
red fox that looked much the worse for the wear. As  
her enemies searched about for her, surprised at the  
sudden "disappearance" of their quarry, she caught her  
breath. Then she returned to the astral combat,  
bursting into the fury of a volcano's inferno this  
time.  
  
***********  
  
Ranma staggered backward, shaking her head. She  
couldn't seem to get around this guy's defenses at  
all. Maybe if she were still a guy she could have  
given him a run for his money, but as a girl. As a  
girl she was getting her ass handed to her.  
Still, a martial artist's duty was to protect, and  
that's what she was doing. She gritted her teeth and  
arranged herself to attack one last time, still  
wondering just why the jerk was wearing pantyhose.  
  
***********  
  
She was focusing on one demon, or so she hoped,  
they looked relatively the same, and she thought he  
was weakening.  
The fiery body she had taken had given way to a  
rocky behemoth with which she smashed into her target.  
Even in that form it was easy to see her wounds and  
fading strength. She was going to die soon, she just  
had to take one of them with her.  
The demons and spirit barely concerned themselves  
with the mortal battle taking place adjacent to there  
own.  
  
***********  
  
"Give up, little girl," the young man taunted,  
finally breathing heavily himself. "Your good, but  
you just got that body, and you haven't trained in it.  
There's no way you can beat me."  
"I don't lose, jerk," Ranma spat, standing up  
despite the pain that seemed to be coming from  
everywhere.  
"Do you want me to kill you?" the young man asked.   
"Don't think I won't do it."  
"I ain't letting you rob that guy," Ranma insisted.  
"What concern of yours is that?" the man asked.  
"Martial artist's duty, pantyhose-freak," Ranma  
snapped. The young man's smirking, superior  
expression vanished.  
"Oh...now you will die," he promised coolly.  
  
***********  
  
The form she had saved for last, empowered by the  
water magic of the region, a standing whirlpool of  
water, was now in play. And she was dying yes, but  
she could feel her opponent's desparation as well. He  
would die with her, and it would be another hundred  
years before they could invade.  
Then the demon noticed what was happening in the  
mortal world, and acted.  
  
***********  
  
~Ah shit,~ Ranma thought to herself as she felt her  
arm snap. She gritted her teeth and kicked upward  
into her attackers groin. ~That'll hurt.~  
Still, whatever she had said, she had pissed off  
the young man finally, and he had charged in blindly.   
As the bandit doubled over in pain and released her  
from the hold he had been trying to place around her,  
she followed up the strike. Leaping into the air and  
coming down into an ax kick that drove the jerk into  
the ground.  
Just for good measure, and to be sure he wouldn't  
get up, Ranma took a book from a soccer player he had  
met once and smashed the young man's head.  
"That should keep him unconscious a while," Ranma  
gasped. "I told you, Ranma Saotome doesn't..." A  
dark miasma surrounded her opponent suddenly.   
"...lose?"  
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" the young man laughed loudly  
as he snapped awake, standing up in front of Ranma as  
if nothing Ranma had done had hurt him. "My thanks  
mortal, for weakening this vessel enough for me to  
take him."  
"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked  
nervously, getting into the best stance she could.   
She wasn't chi blind, and though her senses weren't  
masterfully attuned yet, she recognized a demon when  
she saw one. She hadn't seen one quite like this  
before though.  
"In thanks I will just kill you," the young man  
said. Suddenly he was growing into something huge and  
bestial. Ranma could only stare momentarily before  
the creature slammed an arm forward throwing Ranma  
back through the trees.  
The minotaur like beast flexed its muscles  
inquisitively after watching the little mortal girl's  
flight. There had been so many other things he would  
like to have done with her, including use her as a  
host for one of his comrades. Still, a promise was a  
promise.  
~Such pleasant powers this mortal has. Though when  
his spirit recovers their may be trouble. Perhaps a  
deal is in order,~ he smiled and started to take  
flight for the East.   
The plan would be delayed, until he could find  
hosts or bodies for his other comrades and have them  
all on the same plane of existence. But it would not  
be as long delayed as the fox had obviously hoped.  
  
***********  
  
The fox had reacted with surprise when her target  
simply vanished from the spirit realm. She barely  
caught sight of it's dark soul appearing in the mortal  
realm before her other enemies started tearing into  
her, catching her in her distraction.  
The laughed at the small, bleeding fox as she  
shrank down into her hybrid form, dying and  
incapcitated.  
"We shall meet our comrade in the mortal realm  
soon," they laughed. "And then this whole universe  
shall be for the likes of us. Have fun in your last  
moments fox."  
They faded away, letting the fox crawl off, hoping  
to find someway to live. Surely they had defeated her  
well enough that she wouldn't be a problem. And with  
her gone, no other Earth spirit knew of their coming,  
they were assured of victory.  
  
***********  
  
Ranma was dying, she could feel her life leaking  
away. And what was worse was that she would die as a  
girl. Still, she took comfort in the fact that it had  
taken a demon to beat her, after she had already  
fought as well.  
Well, she wouldn't let death beat her easily,  
either. She would shut down a number of her systems  
and gear her body toward healing and, failing that,  
maintenance. Maybe she could hold on long enough for  
somebody to find her and help her. Maybe.  
As she faded away her vision started to blur and  
she could see something crawling toward her, but  
certainly that was just her imagination. Ranma shut  
her eyes as everything started turning to black.  
  
***********  
  
The fox hesitated as she reached the girl, or boy  
rather she could see both forms. The mortal's spirit  
was hanging on tenaciously with the sort of  
determination only that race of heros and villains  
could attain.  
Still, she was going to die. The fox thought she  
could hold on another hour, maybe two, but nobody  
would find her in time to help her. The other mortal  
in the area was out cold from some attacker as well.  
She didn't have much time to do this, so she had to  
make her decision quickly. The time of mortals and  
spirits mixing was long past, but if she took this  
route it would begin again. For this mortal would  
have to find eleven more mortals to impart a shard of  
hengeyokai life force to. Twelve mortals, twelve  
animal spirits, to fight the twelve demons seeking to  
break their universe.  
It had to be done. She would die, but first she  
would merge her life force into this mortal and impart  
as much of her knowledge as she could before her soul  
left for the heavens. And the first mortal hengeyokai  
in three hundred years would be born.  
  
***********  
  
Ranma sat bolt upright as something seemed to be  
flow into her. She arched her back, mouth open  
silently in shock and surprise before screaming in  
outright terror.  
She'd just seen a man possessed, was that what was  
happening to her now? Was something going to turn her  
into a hell-bent monster? The terror subsided as  
images and things began to slam into her head.   
Images of demons and the end of worlds, her own and  
the kami plane. Snippets of secrets known by a master  
shape-shifter. Most important of all, the urge, the  
need, the awareness that there needed to be eleven  
others, and how to recruit them.  
Then it was over as something seemed to pass on, a  
desparate and sad spirit fading into the ether.   
Fading away with one message.  
"Stop them before its too late," the woman called  
out.  
"What the hell?" Ranma asked as she tried to sort  
out what she'd learned.  
"There you are boy!" a voice shouted just before  
hot water was thrown over him. "What are you doing  
just..."  
"Hey!!" Ranma shouted. "What did you do that for?"  
"You didn't change back!!" Genma blanched, what was  
he going to tell Nodoka. "And why is your hair red  
now."  
"Change back?" Ranma snorted. "What do you mean  
change back...how come you're not a panda?"  
"But, but," Genma blubbered, trying to get across  
the idea that hot water was supposed to change Ranma  
back.  
"Never mind, Pop," Ranma snapped. "I figure it  
out later. Now we gotta do some heavy training,  
because I just nearly got myself killed trying to take  
on this jerk who has the gall to get himself possessed  
by a demon just after a knocked his ass to the  
ground."  
"But, but, but," Genma continued. Ranma frowned,  
apparently she wasn't going to get any sense out of  
her pop until she changed back into a guy.  
"Of all the," Ranma muttered. "It's my girl body,  
I gotta train." She shook her head as she willed the  
change, not thinking about exactly how she knew to do  
that. It was natural that was all.  
Genma stared as his red-haired daughter became a  
red-haired son.  
"Now, pop," Ranma said. "I'm serious, gotta do a  
lot of training, cause there's some fights coming up  
that are gonna get messy. Pop?"  
But Genma had fainted.  
"Ahh, now what am I going to..." Ranma paused and  
considered what had just happened. "Errr...how did I  
do that?" 


	2. First of the Recruits

"I told you, Pop," Ranma said. "I can't teach you, I didn't really learn it, it   
just happened!." Ranma frowned, he hated getting knowledge like that. He didn't   
understand the basis of it, and couldn't repeat the information to anybody.  
He knew how to inact change forms between most any animal from the size of a mouse   
to the size of a large bear. He just didn't understand how it happened, and hadn't   
taken the chance to try out these new tricks to see if he could reverse engineer the   
knowledge.  
At the moment he was staying in one of his six "true" forms, trying to remember   
exactly what happened. He remembered the demon, he remembered some...thing entering   
him, her at the time, and then a blur of images followed by his pop splashing him   
with hot water.  
There was a certain degree of urgency involved here, something about that demon   
and the end of the worlds that he had to do something to stop. It had been all so   
clear for a moment and then, gone, a confused jumble.  
"Sirs, perhaps there is help in the surrounding villages," the Guide suggested.   
"The Amazon elders have great stores of knowledge about Jusenkyo."  
Ranma nodded politely, that wouldn't help his situation. Jusenkyo was   
a shapechanging magic, but something else had made him a natural shapechanger,   
something the curse would usually just roll right off of. Of course, the   
curse had made one parting shot, which is why Ranma had six forms he considered   
true and natural rather than the standard three for a hengeyokai.  
"Amazons," Genma scoffed. "How would a bunch of women help us?"  
"Oh very powerful, sirs, very strong," the Guide explained. "They have   
much wisdom gathered over three thousand years."  
"Sounds good," Ranma said. "An' then maybe on the way I can figure out   
what the trick to this is." ~I'll need to learn more, I might need to teach   
one of the others.~   
Ranma paused as he tried to remember what others. Whatever that spirit   
had done before she died, and Ranma was sure she died, he wished she could   
have gone about it in a better way.   
There is no way Ranma could, or would unless desparate, teach someone   
the same way. The most he would impart was a basic instinct to such between   
the natural forms. If they wanted to become master shapeshifters, well,   
they'd just have to wait until he learned how he did what he did.  
Ranma did NOT like instant ability like this. It completely messed   
his ability to judge what was possible.  
"What are saying boy," Genma demanded. "We don't have time to be   
stopping so you can sow some oats."  
"Ehh? I know why I want to hurry, why do you?" Ranma asked. "Never   
mind, Pop, there'll be food there."  
"What are we doing just standing there boy?" Genma demanded. "Get   
moving to that village!"  
  
************  
  
Ranma walked behind Genma, so he could keep an eye on the old fart, and   
practice a little undisturbed. First thing she had discovered was that her   
male and female body's were in approximately the same physical condition,   
though SHE was faster and HE was stronger.  
It was also apparent to him that exercise in one form did not necessarily   
carry over to the other except in small amounts. This was both good and bad.   
It was good in that he always had a tremendous reserve of endurance to fall   
back on. It was bad in the fact that that meant he'd have to train in both   
forms equally hard.  
That meant twice the amount of work for the same increase. Or he could   
ignore one side and just improve the other, but that would negate the benefit   
of having a reserve of endurance. She'd have to see if there would be similar   
problems for maintaining her power in any of her other forms as well, but it   
felt like it was mainly a male/female problem.  
That wasn't the only change, he/she felt as she changed behind her father.   
Ranma's chi control was much better and her chi had been heightened greatly.   
There was also a very strong elemental nature to her aura, and not of any one   
particular element either. He'd have to play around with his chi a little to   
figure out what he could and couldn't do now.  
Then there was the amusing fact that her yang chi became dominant in her   
female form, while her yin chi turned dominant in her male form. Apparently   
the universe had a sense of humor.  
That brought up the last major change Ranma could identify. SHE wasn't  
having a hissy fit about being a girl. This was further pointed out by the   
fact that she was using the term hissy fit in her thoughts. Really, this   
form felt just as natural to her as her male form.  
She did manage to grumble a little at that, voicing some remembered dislike   
of any trace of femininity. The universe really did have a sense of humor.  
She was brought out of her reverie in time to note her father brush a branch   
out of the way and get drenched with some old rainwater that had apparently been   
sitting on the large leaves.  
"Good one, Pop," Ranma smirked as the village came into sight. The panda   
glared at her and then started a tirade that was obviously centered on Ranma being   
female. "Quiet Pop, we're getting into town."  
She looked around and noted some sort of tournament was going on. She scanned   
the crowd and noted a bench full of food, and was about to approach it when she   
noted the sign on the bench marking it as "First Prize."  
"Huh," Ranma said, not bothering to realize that she shouldn't know Chinese   
of any dialect. "I'll have to look for food elsewhere."   
Ranma paused as her recently enhanced chi senses picked up on something in   
the area. She hadn't found it yet when she noted one of the contestants, and   
behind her in the crowd. She could find that big chi aura in a moment, probably   
an elder and unsuitable, but...  
"Two and three," Ranma whispered, only barely aware of what he meant by that.  
Then she frowned. "Ohhh...she did NOT just call me that."  
  
************  
  
Cologne turned as she felt the strong chi that had entered the village. It   
wasn't entirely human, seemingly tied into the elements that made up the world   
and life. Finding the outsider was the nearest thing to instantaneous she had   
ever accomplished.  
The red head started for the first prize table, making Cologne's mouth quirk   
up. Perhaps the spirit folk, or whatever she was, would give her granddaughter   
a taste of humility. That was not to be however, as the girl stopped and shrugged.   
Cologne sighed for the lost chance at some amusement and continued to watch the   
stranger.  
The girl suddenly started looking about the area as she felt Cologne, or   
perhaps some other of the elders. Then the girl's eyes stopped, focused on   
the tournament and the crowd beyond. She blinked a moment, and Cologne watched   
her mouth three words in Japanese.  
Looking down the line of the girl's sight, Cologne found Shampoo awaiting   
her next round, and behind her Mousse cheering her on.  
~What interest does that girl have in my granddaughter,~ Cologne wondered   
as Shampoo stepped up to her next, and final round. Then fate stepped in.  
  
************  
  
"Looks like I finally get to drive your high bred skull into your neck,   
Xian Pu," the giant was saying with a smirk.  
"In your dreams, Dou Lu," Shampoo answered back.  
"You can't possibly beat Xian Pu, Dou Lu," Mousse declared.  
"Mu su, stay out of women's business," Shampoo said coolly and with a   
hint of disdain. "Go bother the outsider girl over there."  
"An outsider?" Dou Lu frowned.   
They all remembered last year when two guards had failed in their posts   
to do some gambling instead. A group of slavers armed with guns had attacked   
and killed a number of warriors before they could be put down.  
"She's with the Jusenkyo Guide," Shampoo said, waving her hand.   
"Probably here on business or something. What, Dou Lu is afraid of a   
measly Japanese bitch?" Dou Lu grumbled at the insult, but couldn't think   
of a retort.  
"She's looking this way," Mousse noted. "And she doesn't look happy."  
"Oh forget her," Shampoo said. "I want to get to my prize."   
She jumped to the log and waited for Doll.  
"It isn't your prize yet puny girl," Doll growled, following.  
  
************  
  
Ranma watched as the purple haired girl fought the giant on the log.  
She shivered slightly as she watched Shampoo, not from the thought of   
facing the girl. Rather it was two things that had her uncomfortable.   
The first was the act that she had to do to make the two hengeyokai   
like her. She had never kissed anyone before. What happened when, not  
if, they took it the wrong way? And what if she did it wrong and they   
thought it was gross or something? Would she go through life being   
known as a bad kisser?  
The second reason was the animal spirit that Shampoo was most   
allied with. This was far more intimidating to Ranma's mind,   
though for once the very thought didn't send him screaming in fear.   
She'd just have to remember to ask somebody else to work with the girl   
more often.  
~Why a cat?~ she asked. She had power though, and tenacity.   
That was very good for what was coming. Ranma frowned and wished  
she could put together more than a fragment thought of what was   
coming.  
"Uh, sir," the Guide said behind him. "What you doing?"   
Ranma turned around to see his father demolishing the first   
prize feast amongst the stares of many Amazons.  
"KUSO-OYAJI!!!!" Ranma shouted just before the table exploded   
as a bonbori impacted it.  
"Why did you let your panda eat my prize?" Shampoo demanded.   
Ranma was about to answer when the Guide translated.  
~Hmm, probably a good idea to let them think I don't know the   
language for now,~ Ranma said, then realized that she knew the   
language. She blinked, growled about instant knowledge and then   
spoke to the guide. "Could you try to explain Pop to her?"   
Ranma smacked her father on the head and growled at him. The   
panda grumbled as if to ask what that was for.  
"That was the prize for the tournament jerk!" Ranma explained.   
The girl spoke again.  
"She say give her panda as payment," the Guide said.  
"Can't do that," Ranma said. The Guide translated.  
"Then she say if you beat her then the prize would be yours,"   
the Guide say.  
"A duel for the feast, eh?" Ranma asked listening to the various   
comments around her. Something about a no-win situation and the kiss   
of death. ~Well, that's convenient...just have to make sure I win.   
Should be easy.~   
That powerful aura approached again and he saw a withered old   
woman sitting on a stick, judging by the auras, she was related   
to the girl. Then that boy she had seen earlier approached and   
glared at her, making overly protective comments under his breath.  
"I'm game." Ranma fought to keep her smirk in place as she   
answered, wondering if either of the other people would interfere.   
She considered her plan carefully, viewing as she would any   
battle. Only the rules and goals of this battle were vastly   
different.  
  
************  
  
Cologne pogoed forward to watch the situation with a sense   
of concern. The red-head was an unknown quantity, and she had   
not missed that the girl did not need to be told that the feast   
was a prize. Which probably meant that she was going into this   
with eyes wide open about the Kiss of Death.  
Cologne moved to her daughter and laid a hand on her arm.  
"Be careful young one," Cologne warned. "I suspect there  
is a trap in this game for you."  
"The trap is for her, Grandmother," Shampoo insisted.   
"She loses, she dies. She wins, she still dies when I   
kill her later. Besides, is too late now, I offered, she   
accepted. I can't back out now."  
"That is true," Cologne nodded. "But you should know   
that your opponent is only partially human, there is a   
touch of something in her that has not been common since   
the days I was born." Shampoo blinked and looked at the   
red-haired girl more cautiously now.  
"She is still somewhat human," Shampoo said finally.  
"She can die."  
"But Xian Pu, if the old monkey is right then you  
could be killed!" Mousse moaned. That settled Shampoo's   
mind, a bonbori smash to Mousse's head later and she was   
on the log.  
Genma meanwhile sat and peacefully munched while   
Amazons were visually measuring him for a throw rug.   
He was quite confident in his son's ability to win,   
and settled down to watch the show.  
As expected it was short, sweet and to the point.   
Within a few seconds Ranma had kicked the purple-haired   
girl off the log and to the ground. She landed and a   
sour looking woman stepped forward to raise her hand   
as the victor.  
Shampoo shook her head clear as she stood up and   
glared before smirking and striding toward the girl.   
Ranma turned to face Shampoo, seeming totally naive on   
the surface, but Cologne could feel her preparing her chi.  
Shampoo laid a hand on the girl's chin and started   
to place the Kiss of Death. Cologne's eyes bulged as   
the red-head's chi concentrated enough to be visible   
to her and then travelled up the throat towards the   
mouth. But she didn't have time to warn Shampoo.  
Shampoo was surprised when the girl swiftly turned  
her head so that her kiss wasn't placed on the Outsider's  
cheek as planned. When the girl grabbed her, gently but   
firmly holding her in place, she was even more surprised.   
Then came the kiss.  
It was like molten rock and freezing sleet being   
rammed down her throat while animals howled into the   
night sky. It was ecstatic and painful all at once.  
Then it was over.  
"I'm sorry, little sister," the outsider girl said   
in Chinese. She spoke sadly, formally and quietly as   
Shampoo started to crumple to the ground, feeling very   
sick. The girl lowered her gently. "But you're needed."   
Shampoo passed out of consciousness, and missed all   
that happened after.  
Then Guide was grabbing the Panda and the Outsider and   
dragging them out of the village.  
"VERY bad, very bad sirs," the Guide said. Ranma wasn't   
paying attention to the Guide, she had one more thing to say.  
"And don't even THINK about sending that puny wannabe  
warrior BOYFRIEND Mustcache or whatever," Ranma shouted   
in Chinese. "Ain't no way HE can come close to beating me!"  
"Sirs, you is very crazy no?" the Guide asked as they  
hard a male voice screamed and charged forward.  
"I need to talk ta the guy," Ranma said shrugging as   
she started running on her own. "You guys go on ahead,   
I'll slow him up."  
"You sure, sir?" the Guide asked before noticing that   
the panda was already well down the path back towards   
Jusenkyo.  
  
************  
  
A raven flew in through the Guide's window and landed   
on the floor to turn into the panda man's son. Ranma's   
father answered this bit of sensory information with the  
option of fainting.  
"Young sir, you is alive?" the guide said wonderingly.  
"How you change to bird?" the Guide asked. "Jusenkyo?"   
He had thought that the pools mixed, not replaced old curses.  
"Jusenkyo can't touch me," Ranma said. "And I   
changed to a bird when I took out Mousse."  
"Oh, sir, you not worried about them coming for you?"   
the Guide asked as Ranma calming started fixing dinner.  
"If I heard right, those two will be the only ones   
coming," Ranma said softly, irritably. He sounded like   
someone hired to do a very dirty job. "An' what I did   
to them will take a little longer to work itself out   
than what happened to me. About two days I think."  
  
************  
  
Cologne watched over Shampoo as she shook and shivered.   
A fever was raging through her body, and her chi was   
transforming out of control. That outsider girl had   
definitely laid a trap for Shampoo, though Cologne had seen   
the look of remorse that followed the kiss.  
"What do you think it is elder?" one of the others asked.   
Cologne shrugged.  
"Perhaps this is a technique called the Kiss of Death and the   
outsider was defending her life," Cologne said. "But the girl   
showed an interest in Shampoo from the moment she saw my   
granddaughter. I do not yet know her intentions." A few more   
Amazons arrived, bearing a stretcher with Mousse in a similar   
state of affairs.  
"We found him about two miles outside of the village," the women   
said. "It looks as if he had been defeated and immobilized before   
receiving that...attack." They didn't know what else to call it.  
"Apparently she had an interest in Mousse as well," Cologne   
said, looking over the blind boy's chi. "What was she here for?"  
  
************  
  
Doll watched smuggly at the insensate pair of Amazons in the   
infirmary. She would never have fallen for such a cheap trick.  
Still the girl had humiliated her in front of the village.   
Outpowering HER, she was the strongest of the village, not that   
little runt. Perhaps she should try to mix something into the   
girl's medicine.  
  
[I will do some MA&M later, in the next week or so, when I get a chance to pull my D&D out, but for now I got a few scenes in mind for this] 


	3. Finding the Battleground

"Fiance!!!!" the cry pierced the rainy morning air of the Nerima district in the area of the Tendo dojo as a well-known scene was taking place.  
  
************  
  
"Why are you female, boy?" the panda's sign demanded.  
"I gotta train up this form, Pop," Ranma said. "I keep telling you that."  
"Listen boy," Genma signed. "There aren't enough demons in this world to remain a serious threat to it. Get over this delusion and..."  
"Meanwhile the delusion turned my hair red and got me outta my curse," Ranma pointed out. "Listen, Pop, I'll turn back before we see this friend of yours, but I'm getting in the training that I can right now."  
Ranma felt nervous. It had been two months since they had left the Amazon village and he hadn't seen anybody he considered worthy prospects for bringing over to the spirit realm. He was certain that by now the demons had at least as many on their side, as he did on his.  
What was more, his ENEMIES all knew about what was going on and what they were doing. He had some fragmented clues, and his allies?  
His "allies" only knew that a red-haired girl had kissed them and two days later would have woken up discovering that one of them could become a cat and the other a bat, with respective hybrid forms. They probably felt drawn to her as well, but she couldn't say that for certain.  
That was another reason for being female, to leave behind rumor of her passage. That way the Amazons would be able to follow her even if there was no mystic bond directing them.  
The way she things were going right now, they were going to lose before they started. Just like the spirit that had helped him. And in the middle of all this, his Pop wanted him to go get engaged or something.  
"This ain't the time for fiancees though, Pop," Ranma said. "I'll see what your friend has to say, then I have things I need to do..."~Somehow.~  
"You're not in a position to be picky, boy," Genma's sign noted. Ranma blinked.  
"Oh really, Pop," Ranma said. "I'd say that I got about four times the chance anybody else does, ain't like I'm picky about anybody anymore." Genma blinked at the comment and worked around until he came up with the implication. Then he turned green.  
"That is entirely beyond the pale, Boy," Genma demanded through a sign. "You cease to even consider that this instant."  
"It ain't exactly a choice, Pop," Ranma said, narrow eyed. She forebear to mention that she had really seen no interesting men yet. She didn't want to give her Pop any comfort. Ranma paused in her walk and glanced around, almost seeming to sniff about.   
It was weak, but that would change. A place nearby was drawing power in. It would be a stronghold eventually, quickly in fact. Perhaps staying in the area would be a good idea after all. Assuming she could live within whereever this power was going.  
Suddenly the panda stopped, and grabbed Ranma, pulling her off to the side. The panda gestured at the grand estate before them.  
"Here it is, Boy," Genma's sign said. "Now let's get in out of the rain." He moved forward, trying to draw his son, currently daughter, in.  
Ranma winced as she was dragged forward through the gates. Something was pushing him outward, and as she moved closer forward, it was as if her strength was getting taken from him.  
While she still could, Ranma slipped out of her father's grasp and jumped back past the gates. Instantly her strength returned to her, though she could still sense the force that had kept her at bay.  
"What are you doing, Boy," Genma demanded through a sign. "Get in here."  
"Ain't good manners, Pop," Ranma said. "Maybe we should ask them to come out here to meet us." The panda started to complain. "I ain't going in to meet them Pop, unless you want me to stay like this."  
"Deal," the next sign read. "But I don't see why you want to stay out in the rain later."  
"Err..." Ranma said, looking at the gate. "Just want to show good manners."  
  
************  
  
"So, Daddy," Nabiki said. "You've engaged us to a boy you've never met."  
"It was decided long ago," Soun said. "Before any of you were born."  
"And that makes it right!?" Akane demanded angrily.  
"Well, it shouldn't matter," Soun said. "We'll find out all we want to know about him in soon, they should arrive today."  
"Hey, Pops, don't just barge in like that," a voice shouted from outside.  
"That must be them now," Soun declared happily.  
"Ohhh, I hope he's cute," Nabiki declared, running towards the door, just a little ahead of her father.  
"I hope he's not too young," Kasumi sighed.  
"Boys," Akane muttered, following along last.  
They soon found Nabiki and Soun pelting backward away from the door. Akane and Kasumi cleared the center of the hallway to let them pass and watched them, confused.  
"Pops, you're scaring them spitless, get back her," that voice shouted.   
Kasumi and Akane followed the responding growfing and roaring to see a panda standing in the genkan and arguing with a red-haired young man standing at the gate with a large pack.  
A moment later and the panda was out cold. This tends to happen when one throws a brick into somethings head at near bullet velocity.  
"Hey, sorry about Pop," the young man called out. "He ain't got no manners sometimes." Kasumi stepped forward cautiously as Akane stomped ahead.  
"What are you doing travelling around with a vicious beast like that!" Akane demanded.  
"Experiencing hell in small doses," the young man said succinctly, not disagreeing with any of Akane's description of his father. A strange look came over the young man's face and he glanced from Akane to her sister and back, spectatively. Akane growled and stepped protectively closer to Kasumi.  
"Are you Ranma Saotome?" Kasumi asked, noting that Ranma was standing just outside the bounds of their land.  
"Yeah, sorry 'bout this," Ranma said.  
"Perhaps we should handle this somewhere..."  
"Awwww Ranma my boy!!" her father yelled from the door. "We've been waiting for you. Please come in!" Ranma suddenly blinked in surprise, and then was immediately stepping through the gates, smiling brightly. Kasumi watched him pass her, and then shook her head.  
"I have been reading too many gothic novels," she whispered to herself.  
  
************  
  
"Well, he is cute," Nabiki said, practically drooling. ~And he certainly is interested too, just look at how he's looking me over. Mmm mmmm.~  
"Cute, hmmph," Akane said. "If he's supposed to help teach her, he'll have to be more than cute. Maybe you'd like to spar a little, so I can see if you're worthy to claim the schools name?"  
"Sure," Ranma said, a little hesitantly. Akane smirked at that, obviously he wasn't certain of himself.  
  
************  
  
Ranma had almost asked if he could change first, but stopped himself. He shook his head a little irritably. He needed to train his girl side, but he couldn't show that off without tripping off a lot of suspicion. Maybe he should have come as a girl, then at least he could have imitated a Jusenkyo curse for a while. But no, he just had to do this the right way.  
~I guess it's training my girl form in secret then,~ Ranma said. Ranma sighed and shook his head as he returned his thoughts to the present.  
"So, do you do Kempo?" Akane asked. Ranma shrugged.  
"A little," he said. "You want to limit it to that style?" Akane blinked a little at that comment.  
"Errr, sure," Akane said, confused. ~What does he mean limit it to that style.~  
"Okay," he nodded, doing his best not to get on her bad side. "Let's start."  
"Be careful, Akane," the elder sister said, from where she was watching them worriedly. Ranma glanced at her and looked nervous.  
~She's nervous about,~ Ranma thought. ~I guess she should be.~ He took a deep breath and sighed.  
"Don't worry, Kasumi, I can handle this loser," Akane declared. Then she was all business. "Okay then, FIGHT!"  
The fight went as predictably as his battle with Shampoo, until the very end.  
~This time it's for real!~ Akane promised herself angrily, launching forward in an all out attack. Suddenly her opponent just wasn't there and her hand was embedded in a wall. Akane blinked in disbelief.  
"Damn, didn't expect that," someone behind her said. She ripped her hand out of the wall and turned to see Ranma standing there looking sheepish. "Your round I guess."  
"Huh?" Akane said, surprised that he was conceding after she hadn't been able to hit him. "What? How!?"  
"You limited the match to Kempo, Akane," Kasumi reminded her. "And Ranma's last maneuver was...Wu Shu?"  
"Capoeira," Ranma corrected, sounding embarrassed. "My Wu Shu gets more air than that."  
"Oh, I see," Kasumi said, still looking cautious.  
"Hey, Kasumi," Nabiki called out. "Do you know who that guy is in there with Daddy?"  
"Hmm," Kasumi said, reluctant to leave her watch over the strange young man. "What man is that?"  
"He just sort of appeared out of nowhere," Nabiki said.  
"Oh?" Kasumi said, trying not to sound nervous. "I suppose I should see about that." Kasumi glanced at Ranma and then left to investigate this new mystery.  
"So, Sis, how'd you do?" Nabiki asked, smirking.  
"I'm still trying to figure that out myself," Akane said.  
"She won," Ranma said, unequivocally. Nabiki looked over Ranma, noting that he wasn't breathing heavily and hadn't a mark on him.  
"How?" Nabiki asked.  
"That was my question," Akane said, still trying to get over someone claiming they lost when they dominated the match.  
"I broke the terms of the match," Ranma said shrugging. "I think I should go talk to my Pop, now. Tell me when you guys are done with the bath, its been awhile since I had a hot one."   
Then Ranma left the room, hiding a rather depressed and nervous look on his face as he left the dojo.  
  
************  
  
"So, Ranma," Soun said. "Your father has explained about his curse and your trip, now onto business."  
"Yeah, let's get this over with," Ranma muttered.  
"And no complaints, Boy," Genma snapped angrily. "You'll choose a fiancee and like it!"  
"He said he'd do it, Saotome," Soun said, questioningly.  
"Huh?" Genma blinked. "But on the way here he was...and then...what?"  
"What do you mean, 'get this over with?'" Akane demanded. "We aren't good enough for you?" Ranma looked around and scratched his head.  
"Hey, I ain't stayed in one place for long, Pop," Ranma said. "And maybe I care more about family honor than you do." He almost winced at that as he thought something else. ~Or maybe I want to make these three girls very sick for a couple of days so they can help me fight some demons and maybe get them killed in the process.~   
Besides, the longer he stayed in Nerima, the more it felt like this was where everything was going to happen.  
"I'm sixteen years old," he said, as if that explained everything. He held off on saying a lot of things he'd LIKE to say. He had to keep them from disliking him, needed to take this somewhat slow. As slow as could considering the situation. "I'm willing to give this a try, but it ain't exactly what I would call the right age for me to be choosing who to spend the rest of my life with."  
"That's why I'M doing the choosing, Boy," Genma said. Ranma gave him a sidelong glance.  
"You don't have to live with the consequences," Ranma said. "I'll choose within the limits your giving me, or I ain't doing this."  
"So which of my daughters do you want...."  
"That would be me!" Nabiki called out, drawing all eyes toward her. Ranma blinked for several seconds, confused and surprised.  
"Umm, sure," Ranma said finally.  
  
************  
  
"Congratulations, Nabiki," Kasumi said, hesitantly. "I just hope you aren't making a rash decision."  
"Oh please," Nabiki said. "Ranma's right, we're really too young to get married, and as long as Daddy and Mr. Saotome see we're willing to go along with this, they won't pressure us. It's really sort of like having a steady boyfriend when you think about it."  
"Yes," Kasumi said. "But there is something...odd about Ranma."  
"Yeah, red-hair, flaming red-hair," Nabiki said. "His mother must be a gaijin or something. Oh well, that just makes him exotic."  
"There seems to be something else," Kasumi said quietly.  
  
************  
  
Ranma woke up in time to turn his headlong flight through the air into something controled as the morning festivities began. Last night he had managed to fight the urge that time was of the essence and NOT sneak into any of the girl's rooms to give them his little gift.  
Ranma shivered as he fought Genma. He actually had a name for it now. That wasn't good. His distraction cost him as he was tossed into the koi pond.  
"You're sloppy boy," Genma declared.  
"I'll show you sloppy, Oyaji," Ranma growled, eliciting a shiver from his father as Genma remembered the two times he had tried to spar Ranma in either hybrid form. Before each time, Ranma had sounded like that. Still, Ranma seemed to be trying to hide what he was, so he wouldn't resort to that.  
Not in broad daylight at least.  
"Breakfast," Kasumi called out. "The food is read...oops!" The sound of something falling came to Ranma's ears, and he turned to see Kasumi in the middle of a fall and dropping a container of race.  
Ranma moved to her side so quickly that Genma could barely follow his motions.  
"Are you all right, Kasumi-san," Ranma asked, catching Kasumi and helping her stand up.  
"Yes," Kasumi said, catching her breath and looking surprised. "I'm sorry. I seem to have spilled the rice." Kasumi glanced down and Ranma followed the look.  
"Well it ain't cooked," Ranma said. "An it's just on the floor, which is spotless, so I think it's okay. Want me to help clean it up?"  
"No that's fine," Kasumi said, uncertainly. "I can handle it, just eat your breakfast." Ranma shrugged and sat down with the rest of the family as Nabiki gave Kasumi a inquisitive glance.  
Kasumi bent down to pick up the rice, indicating for the others to eat as she did so. Watching Ranma as she was proceeding with the task, she noticed a hint of surprise before he went back to eating.  
"Gah!!!" Akane coughed out. "Kasumi, what's with the garlic in all of this?"  
"Oh," Kasumi said, embarrassed. "I just thought I'd spice things up a little."  
"Wow, look at the time," Nabiki said suddenly. "Come on Ranma, we gotta go."  
"But..." Ranma said, pointing at his bowl before Nabiki dragged him off.   
Kasumi returned the rice to the kitchen and looked at Ranma's plate herself. He had eaten all the meat right off and had barely touched the vegetables. Though he had been working on that when Nabiki pulled him away.  
"Kasumi," Akane said. "I can barely believe it."  
"Hmm?" Kasumi looked up inquisitively.  
"Your sister is right, Kasumi," her father said. "As long as the engagement remains between Nabiki and Ranma, you should not interfere in their relationship."  
"Excuse me?" Kasumi said. "You think...oh my."  
  
************  
  
"Errr, Nabiki," Ranma said to his new, and bright-eyed, fiancee. "What's with the huge collection of idiots in sports gear?"  
"Oh, that's the hentai squad," Nabiki said. "My sister will be by to clean them up soo...what's wrong with you." Ranma stood straight up and scanned the crowd.  
"You don't feel that?" Ranma asked before mentally smacking himself in the head. ~Duh, of course she doesn't feel that. She's still human. Damn, looks like things are already speeding up on me.~  
"Feel what?" Nabiki asked.  
"Nabiki Tendo," a voice said. Nabiki felt a chill wash over her, then she turned around and saw that it was only Kuno.  
"Oh, Kuno-baby," she said. "It's only you."  
"Perhaps you could introduce me to your friend," Kuno said superiorly.  
"Oh this isn't my friend," Nabiki said with a smirk. "This is my...Ranma, what's wrong with you now?" Ranma was practically in stance as he faced Kuno.  
"Nevermind, it is proper to introduce one's self first," Kuno said. "I am the rising star of the high school kendo world. The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High. Kuno Tatewaki, age 17."  
"And perhaps you can tell me your other name too," Ranma said, growling in an ancient language.  
"That would be telling," the other said. Nabiki backed up looking between the two nervously. "I didn't think there were any of you on this plane of existence little fox, I'm glad I was wrong. I thought that that bitch we killed this summer would be last of your kind I could taste for a long time."  
"I ain't going to be as easy to take out as you think," Ranma growled.  
"What are you two talking about," Nabiki said crossly. "And what are speaking?"  
"It is an ancient precursor to our modern Japanese," Kuno explained. "....Families like mine and your...friend's keep the knowledge alive."  
"I see," Nabiki said suspiciously. "And what are you talking about?"  
"I believe it came down to a challenge," Kuno said, smirking. "But I don't think either of us is willing to...endanger bystanders at the moment. Another time perhaps."  
"You can count on it, voidling," Ranma growled. Kuno nodded.  
"You can tell your sister that I won't be engaging in this plebian attempt to acquire her attention any longer," Kuno said.  
"But you're the one that set the challenge," Nabiki said, confused. She looked to Ranma and back to Kuno. "If you were a cat....What are you doing up there?" The moment she had said cat, he had leaped to the nearest tree.  
"Long story," Ranma said, then muttered under his breath. "Bad enough I'm gonna have to work with one..." 


	4. Rushed Move

"So, when did that guy start being so creepy?"  
Ranma asked, coming down from the tree to stand next  
to Nabiki.  
"Oh, Kuno's always been like that, I have classes  
with him," Nabiki said before frowning in thought.  
"You have classes WITH him," Ranma said, whirling  
to face her. ~That is NOT good.~  
"What's the matter jealous?" Nabiki smirked a  
little before going on to voice her doubts, mostly to  
herself. "There was something a little off about him,  
though. What was that last comment about 'voidling?'  
you threw at him."  
"Errrr..." Ranma looked around trying to come up  
with a credible answer. "Oh, well, his kind sorta  
come from outside, ya know, the void.   
Ain't...natural..." He shrugged nervously.  
"Interesting comment coming from someone with your  
obvious ancestery," Nabiki noted with an arched  
eyebrow. ~I hope he's not a bigot. Because if he's  
still worried about outsiders back to a day when there  
Japanese hadn't developed...~ Her mouth quirked  
angrily and then was still.  
"This ain't a bloodline thing," Ranma said  
hurriedly, shaking his hands in denial. "Trust me on  
that one, it's more like...what's in that head of  
his."  
"I suppose it's as good a term as any to describe  
Kuno's mind," Nabiki said. "Well, we have some time  
yet. Shall I show you to your room and then take my  
normal seat for upcoming spectacle."  
"How about showing me to the nurses' station  
first," Ranma asked, glancing after Kuno. "I gotta  
feeling that I'm going to need to be there quite a  
bit."  
"Get on Kuno's bad side and I can understand how  
you'd think that," Nabiki said smirking. "Though with  
how you took my sister yesterday, I don't see where  
you should be worried."  
"I think he's picked up a few secrets you don't  
know about," Ranma said simply as they walked into the  
school building.  
"Not likely," Nabiki said, smirking. "And this, is  
the glorious nurses' station. Not much, but it keeps  
the students healthy." She glanced back to her fiance  
to note him looking about the empty hallway with a  
hint of paranoia.   
"He's not going to jump out of the walls, Saotome."  
Ranma merely arched an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, well," Ranma said. "Things are happening  
quicker than I expected."  
"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked, wondering if  
maybe this whole engagement thing was going to get  
tedious. Ranma's cheeks flashed a cute shade of red  
to nearly match his hair before he leaned over towards  
Nabiki.  
Nabiki's eyes widened in surprise as Ranma moved to  
kiss her. On the first day of their engagement no  
less. No wonder he was looking about the hallway so  
carefully. Nabiki smiled a little as she leaned  
forward to meet him, wrapping her arms around him  
lightly.  
When the kiss hit her she was totally unprepared.   
Her arms quirked out as if she had just kissed an  
electrical outlet, which was something a little weaker  
than what she was actually feeling.  
Like Shampoo and Mousse before, she stayed  
conscious long enough to hear Ranma say. "Sorry 'bout  
this. But I gotta do this."  
  
************  
  
"Really," Akane said. "Just where was Kuno after  
all that. If he's going to make all this trouble for  
me, the least he could do is at least show up." She  
walked into the building feeling irritable.  
"Akane," Sayuri shouted, coming her way. "Your  
sister!"  
"Nabiki?" Akane asked. "What about Nabiki?" ~If  
that...Boy...did anything to her...~  
"She passed out or something," Sayuri said. "The  
nurse asked me to come get you. Come on." Sayuri  
hurried back down the hallway, Akane close behind her  
in a shock of worry and suspicion.  
When they reached the nurse's station, they found  
Nabiki lying in one of the beds, shaking and  
shivering, her eyes closed in a semblance of sleep.   
Sitting next to her was an apologetic looking Ranma,  
and Akane swiftly rounded on him.  
"What did you do to her?" Akane demanded, noting  
Ranma's wince with vindication.  
"She just collapsed," Ranma said hesitantly,  
shrugging. "I got her here as quick as I could."  
"Tendo-san," the nurse said, coming into the room.   
"This is hardly the boy's fault. As far as I can tell  
your sister seems to have developed some form of  
epilepsy or something similar."   
"Epilepsy?" Akane repeated. "Is that bad?"  
"It can be," the nurse said. "In this case it  
doesn't seem as if she is in danger for her life, but  
she hasn't come out of the seizure in the last ten  
minutes, and that worries me." Akane paled.  
"Ten minutes," Akane said. "She's been like this  
for ten minutes?"  
"Uh, yeah," Ranma said. "She says there's some doc  
nearby that you can lead me to that might know what to  
do."  
"Dr. Tofu!" Akane exclaimed. "Of course, he'll  
know what to do."   
  
************  
  
Dr. Tofu had spent a rather boring morning so far.   
Nothing had yet happened that truly required his  
attention. It had even been a few days since Akane  
last injured herself. He tried not to wish for some  
sort of pick up in activity, knowing that such times  
of peace and good health were few and far between.  
Unfortunately it seemed it was already too late.  
"Dr. Tofu," Akane's voice called from the front of  
the office.   
The doctor quickly stood up and hurried to the  
front of the clinic. The secretary there was trying  
to calm down Akane, who was standing next to a rather  
striking red-haired boy holding Nabiki Tendo.  
"Dr. Tofu my sister..." Her voice was on the verge  
of breaking into tears. It didn't take but a glance  
to see that Nabiki was unconscious and shaking  
violently.  
"Oh dear," Dr. Tofu said. "What happened to her."  
"She sort of passed out, Doc," Ranma said. ~Damn,  
too old and strong, he'd either fight it off or die.   
Could be a strong ally though.~  
"The school nurse thinks its a type of epilepsy,"  
Akane said worriedly.  
"Bring her over here, and I'll see what is wrong,"  
Dr. Tofu said. "Though I doubt epilepsy." The doctor  
lead them into the examination room and directed Ranma  
to lay Nabiki out on the table.  
"There doesn't seem to be much pain," Tofu said  
right off the bat, noting the relief on the part of  
both teens. "Her face is peaceful at least, that  
could mean nothing, however." He lay the back of his  
hand against her forehead and then pulled it away.  
"Something the matter?" Akane asked nervously.  
"She's burning up," the doctor said seriously as he  
scooped her up. "Akane..."  
"Ranma," the young man supplied.  
"Start filling buckets of ice from there," he said,  
indicating a machine at the end of the hall. As he  
was speaking he carried the shaking Nabiki into a full  
bathroom near the back of the building, and slipped  
her into the empty tub.  
As Tofu was taking Nabiki to the tub he kept in  
case of emergencies like this, Ranma and Akane walked  
down the hall. Ranma glanced towards the doctor's  
office and winced as he caught a reflection of himself  
in hybrid form in one of the small mirrors inside. He  
started glancing around the ceilings, looking for any  
mirrors he had already missed.  
"Okay now," Tofu said as Akane and Ranma first  
started arriving with ice, which he piled around  
Nabiki. "That should help the fever some, yes, she's  
down a little already. Heartbeat is rapid, but strong  
and regular. It's almost as if she's just running her  
body to it's limit."  
He settled back to get ready and look at his  
patients chi next. As he opened his senses to view  
Nabiki's aura he received two shocks.  
The first came from Nabiki, as the embroiled state  
of chi was revealed. He couldn't quite figure out  
what was happening, but knew that her aura was  
changing in response to something. And her body was  
probably changing with her aura.  
Then he turned to look at Ranma and saw the boy's  
easily mutable aura. There were many things constant  
about it, honor, duty, determination, remorse, but it  
was hard to pin down. The boy's aura was also  
strongly tied to the natural world around him, and not  
bound so rigidly as other people's aura. It was the  
aura of someone remarkably talented with chi  
control...or of someone not altogether human, or both.  
He looked from Ranma to Nabiki for a moment, and  
then to Akane. Better not to voice his concerns in  
front of her, if he was wrong it would just cause  
trouble.  
"You were with her when this happened?" Tofu asked  
Ranma.  
"Err...yeah," Ranma said nervously. "She  
was...uhh...showin me around places in the  
school...and then collapsed...so I got her to the  
nurse's office and she said to bring Nabiki here." He  
shrugged and looked back at the Doc nervously.  
"Akane would you stay with your sister," Tofu  
asked. "I need to ask your friend some questions."  
"He's not my friend," Akane said. "He's Nabiki's  
fiance." She almost spat the term. "And he better  
not have done anything to her."  
"Fiance?" Tofu asked curiously.  
"It was our parents idea," Ranma said irritably.   
"She didn't seem to mind though."  
"Well," Tofu said. "Let's have that talk."  
"Sure Doc," Ranma said. They both stood up and  
started walking out the of the bathroom, back to the  
office.  
"Nothing strange happened at all before she fell,"  
Tofu asked.  
"Well there was that Kuno guy, but he didn't do  
anything," Ranma said. He stopped short of entering  
Tofu's back office though, almost growling in  
frustration. "Damn it! I can't do anything about  
this kinda stuff!" ~Except cause it anyway.~  
Ranma stamped his feet into the floor, hard, and  
the sound of things falling and glass breaking came  
from the Doctor's office. Ranma winced at every noise  
and looked at the doctor sheepishly.  
"Sorry Doc," Ranma said. "Guess I don't know my  
own strength."   
The doctor meanwhile opened the door cautiously to  
see his office in mild disarray, and all the  
precariously placed blessed mirrors fallen and  
shattered.  
"That's okay, Ranma," he said, thinking. "We can  
just brush the glass aside for now, and I'll clean it  
up later. Now can you tell me something about  
yourself?"  
"About me?" Ranma repeated, blinking his eyes.   
"How's that going to help Nabiki." ~It's a little late  
for that, Doc.~  
"Well, it will get you relaxed," he brushed aside  
some glass from a pair of chairs and gestured for  
Ranma to sit down. "And maybe you'll think of  
something you want to tell me."  
"Okay," Ranma said, hesitantly as he sat down.   
"Whatcha want to know?"  
"Well, first of all," Tofu said. "I'm curious,  
how'd you get that red hair? It's almost beyond the  
range of human hair color."  
"Errr..." Ranma glanced around the room cautiously,  
trying to think of something to say. "I sorta changed  
my hair color..." he looked decently embarrassed.   
Tofu glanced at him and considered. It didn't look  
like a dye job, but, then again, he supposed there  
were some good ones out there.  
"Maybe you should have chosen a more subtle color,"  
Tofu suggested. "How long have you been studying the  
martial arts?"  
"All my life, Doc," Ranma said. "I still don't see  
how this is going to help you with Nabiki, unless you  
think I did something to her."  
"Did you?" Tofu asked.  
"If I can, Doc," Ranma said firmly. "I'm going to  
see to it nobody gets hurt around here." He didn't  
answer the question though.  
"And you think there is reason people might get  
hurt," Dr. Tofu asked.  
"There's a bad bunch around," Ranma answered.   
"First met 'em in China, and looks like they got here  
ahead of me."  
"Anything like you?" Tofu asked. Ranma hesitated a  
bit.  
"Yes and no, Doc," Ranma said. "I ain't got it all  
figured out myself."  
"I should see to Nabiki now," Dr. Tofu said after a  
long moment.  
"I'll come by ta see her later," Ranma said  
nervously. "I gotta do that much at least, if this  
whole engagement thing goes anywhere, I gotta watch  
her at a time like this."  
"That sounds like a wise decision, Ranma," Tofu  
said. ~And a smart one if you mean harm.~  
  
************  
  
"Kasumi," Akane called out as they came home.   
"Kasumi, it's terrible!" She barely noted the prayer  
papers liberally pasted to the walls.  
"Akane, are you home already?" Kasumi said, coming  
out of the kitchen. "And Ranma? What are you doing  
here? Is Nabiki at least still in school?"  
"Nabiki...she...there's something wrong with  
Nabiki," Akane said finally. "The nurse said it was  
epilepsy."  
Kasumi blanched. If it was epilepsy in truth then  
Nabiki would have to deal with it for the rest of her  
life. She hoped it truly wasn't something so  
debilitating.  
"But Dr. Tofu doesn't know what it is," Akane said,  
obviously worried and wanting Kasumi to assuage her  
fears. For the moment she was a little child about to  
lose a family member again. "He says her chi is out  
of control."  
"Oh my," Kasumi said, and looked to Ranma.  
"He said her heartbeat was strong and the beat was  
regular," Ranma said. "She's got a fever, but he's  
keepin that down by keeping her in ice."  
"I'm certain Dr. Tofu knows what's best," Kasumi  
assured Akane. "Did something strange happen at  
school?"  
"Nope, after that Kuno kid talked to us, she showed  
me around and then she collapsed," Ranma said. It was  
the truth as far as it went.  
"Kuno," Akane growled. "I bet he did something to  
Nabiki. Maybe he finally realized she was ripping him  
off all the time or something."  
"Don't try to take Kuno," Ranma snapped in response  
looking up. Kasumi took note of the grim and  
forbidding tone and looked up curiously.  
"I can take Kuno easy," Akane said. "I do it  
everyday, he's nothing."  
"I don't think the Kuno you know is the same Kuno I  
saw today," Ranma said, still serious.  
"What's the matter," Akane asked. "Don't you think  
a girl can take care of herself?"  
"I think a girl can take care of herself just fine  
if she knows when to hold off," Ranma said. "Whatever  
he was before, that guy's been making deals, and he  
isn't someone to take on lightly now."  
"Perhaps you should listen to Ranma for now,"  
Kasumi said. "Besides, this isn't the sort of thing  
that you have described Kuno as doing, now is it."  
"I suppose not," Akane said glummly. "I just hope  
its not like...you know..."  
"Oh, Akane," Kasumi said. "That was a lot  
different than this. Mother's illness didn't happen  
all at once."  
Ranma sneezed and shook his head. As he reached  
out to grab one of the prayer papers and use it for a  
kleenex he looked around the room.  
"Where's Pop and Tendo-san?" Ranma asked.  
"Oh," Kasumi said, watching Ranma blow his nose on  
her morning's work. "They're out celebrating the  
engagement. Father is going to be so heartbroken."   
Ranma winced at that.  
"Gah, that father of yours is a bad influence,"  
Akane said. "I can just imagine what bits of him  
YOU'RE hiding from us."  
"Yeah, sorry 'bout this," Ranma said sheepishly.  
"Why," Kasumi said watching him closely. "You  
didn't have anything to do with this."  
"I just don't like bringing the news, you know?"  
Ranma said. ~You know, it's a lot easier to fool  
people when ya don't actually answer the question.~  
"I suppose not," Kasumi said. "I suppose we'll  
just have to wait and pray. By the way, Ranma, what  
religion are you?"  
"Never really thought about it," Ranma said,  
shrugging. "I guess they all got their strong points,  
an' their weak points. Though I've really been  
leaning toward Shintoism these last coupla months."  
"I see," Kasumi said.  
"What are you talking about religion for at a time  
like this?" Akane demanded. "I swear Kasumi, it's  
like you've gone insane recently!"  
"It probably had something to do with the wedding  
plans," Ranma said sullenly. "Sounds like she's sure  
Nabiki'll be fine."  
"Yes," Kasumi said. "Yes, everything is going to  
be fine."  
"I wonder," Ranma said under his breath. 


	5. Too Fast

"Have you heard any word about your sister?" Sayuri asked as Akane walked into class the next day after wading through the morning boys.  
"Dr. Tofu said she looks like she's going to be fine," Akane answered. "Whatever happened to her is winding down or something." Akane fixed Ranma with a suspicious glare as she said "whatever happened." The red-haired martial artist winced as he felt the look and heard the accusation.  
"I feel so sorry for you, Akane," Yuka said in a sort of dreamy voice. "I mean the way you lost your mother and now..."  
"Nabiki isn't dying!" Akane declared loudly. "This is some freak flu or something!" Yuka flinched back away from Akane.  
"Akane, if it's epilepsy she'll be having these sort of seizures off and on all her life," Sayuri said.  
"It can't be that," Akane said. "Dr. Tofu said it definitely wasn't epilepsy, and it's going away."  
~Nope,~ thought Ranma. ~Which is good, because I think the rest of her life could amount to a few hundred years. If we're all lucky that is.~  
"Well, I know just the way to ease off the stress," Yuka said. "A slumber party!" Sayuri and Akane looked at each other hesitantly at that.  
"I'm not sure about that Yuka," Akane said. "I should be watching over Nabiki to make sure that noone," she glared at Ranma, "tries anything funny."  
"And I have some studying to do," Sayuri added.  
"Oh, come on," Yuka said. "You can do your studying at my house. And I'm sure Dr. Tofu won't let anything bad happen to your sister. I know that YOU can't possibly think anything bad about Dr. Tofu, can you?"  
Akane flushed brightly, showing signs of infatuation that Ranma had thought he was imagining before when they brought in Nabiki. He filed the information away for later.  
"I've got a new party game," Yuka said teasingly. "I'm certain all fourth of us are going to have a lot of fun."  
"Ehh, what's this one?" Sayuri asked. "And who's the fourth?" That question caught Ranma's ear.  
"Oh it's something called a ouiji board, it's some sort of way to contact the world beyond," Yuka said.   
If Ranma had been in fox form, every hair on his back would have been raised. He'd never heard of wigi board before, but if it had to do with the spirit world, he already didn't like hearing about it in the current situation.   
"Supposed to be very spooky and everything," Yuka finished.  
"Okay, and who's the fourth," Akane asked. Yuka smiled and seemed about to answer when the teacher walked in.  
"Saotome," the teacher said. "You look as if you'd seen a ghost. Is something wrong?" The girls about him giggled, though Akane frowned at him for easedropping.  
"Couldn't sleep last night, teach," Ranma said. "Worrying about...stuff, you know?"  
"Oh yes," the teacher said. "I hope she pulls through. Excellent....student, if somewhat...vicious at times."  
"Nabiki?" Ranma asked. "I got the feeling she could get rather tenacious. Seems to run in the family actually."  
"Tenacious," the teacher said. "That is a way to put it. Now everybody, open your books to page 13..."  
  
************  
  
Yuka broke off from her friends and strode happily towards the restroom, promising to meet them in the cafeteria. As she parted from them, not noticing the large spider skittering across the ceiling above her, her step became less happy and more doubtful.  
Curiously enough she walked right by the bathroom and continued on out the rear entrance of the school. In a few moments she was off the grounds and furtively walking across the street.   
The spider leaped from the wall and suddenly started flapping a set of white wings as Ranma sensed what was in the building and made a rush forward to try to stop the girl. He was too slow.  
There walked through the door of the house, and Ranma stopped at the edge of the yard. Blocked by that same power that had kept him out of the Tendo dojo until...  
Ranma's wing smacked his head, then he hastily returned to flapping until he found a windowsill to settle on. He couldn't go into homes without being invited, duh. All the stories said that about stuff. You always had to invite a spirit in for it to help or hurt you.  
"Do you feel something?" a voice inside the building asked.  
A demon's aura began approaching the window. Ranma dropped down below the sill, taking spider form again, and counting on the small size of his aura and body at the moment to hide him.  
"Nothing, master," another said. Ranma recognized both voices and would have frowned if he had been in a humanoid form.  
"Can't be too careful," the first said. "You did meet that fox yesterday."  
"Hello, Kuno-sempai," Yuka's voice called out. "Tarou-sama....it's me...Yuka."  
"We can hear you Yuka," a voice Ranma assumed to "Tarou-sama" said. "Go ahead and come in."  
"Tarou-sama!" Yuka said happily. "It worked, they're coming...but," her voice turned hesitant. "Are you certain this is a good idea? If it doesn't work, they're going to hate me."  
"After this night," Tarou-sama, Ranma could almost feel the smile. "Your Sayuri will be more than willing to return your feelings."  
"And there's no way that Akane...?" Yuka started.  
"She is already promised," Kuno insisted angrily.  
"Come, come," Tarou-sama said. "I'm certain that none of us would feel opposed to sharing, if it came to that."  
"I suppose," Kuno said. "That would be acceptable."  
"And, uh, Tarou-sama," Yuka said nervously. "What did you want me to come right now for?"  
"Because right now," Tarou-sama said. "We're going to go through the ritual you'll use tonight, and make sure you understand it properly."  
"And no more weaklings after this," Kuno said in the ancient tongue. There was a sense of anger and Kuno continued in a meek manner. "Please master. After this Sayuri girl we shall have two non-fighters. The reluctance an enemy will have to harm an innocent soul is useful, but we shouldn't have too many that rely only on the power we provide to them."  
"And just how many of the strong do you think we can trick into inviting us in?" Tarou-sama asked. "You do make a point, however. Perhaps some ambushes are in order."  
"I...think that I'm ready," Yuka said faintly. "Tarou-sama."  
Ranma dropped from the window sill and landed on all fours. The little red fox ran away from the building, unwilling to listen helplessly while that girl invited a demon into herself.   
If he only knew one mortal willing to help, they could have snuck in and invited him. He thought so anyway, but as it was. He could do nothing. Except perhaps stop the other two girls from getting caught.  
Now how to do that.  
Well, Akane was easy, in one way. In another way, getting into a position to kiss Tendo Akane would be practically impossible. Plus, he really hoped that he could have avoided doing that so soon.  
"I only have until Nabiki wakes up, or Dr. Tofu decides to compare notes with Kasumi anyway," Ranma muttered. "Why am I waiting."  
Sayuri on the other hand. Sayuri didn't have the physical conditioning of any of the Tendo sisters.   
While Nabiki and Kasumi didn't seem much, Ranma thought they'd probably do well in any conventional tournament. At the very least they were in top shape, far surpassing even most athletes as they lacked some of the habitual injuries of more dedicated athletes. Sayuri on the other hand was slightly above average.  
The change wouldn't just "possibly kill" her, like it would one of those soccer girls for instance. It would tear her to pieces. So that left the question, how to keep her from joining the enemy, willing or no.  
  
************  
  
"Yuka certainly is taking an awful long time in the restrooms," Sayuri said, looking toward the school.  
"Hey, do you mind if I sit here?" a voice asked.  
"Why don't you go sit with the other..." Akane's voice cut off as she saw the person that was talking to her. Sayuri's jaw also dropped.  
"It's him..." Akane whispered. "But our age."  
"Go for it girl," Sayuri whispered back. "The guys always say the best way to get over someone..."  
"...is to dump someone that looks just like them," Akane finished. "You WANT me to act like a boy, Sayuri?"  
"Umm, if it's any trouble," the Tofu-Jr said pleasantly.  
"No, no," Akane cut him off. "Go ahead and sit down. We were saving a seat for a friend, but." Akane looked around. "I think she found something else to do." The young man actually seemed to look pained at that.  
"Is something wrong," Sayuri asked.  
"I'm just worried about your friend," the young man said. "That's all."  
"Well, don't," Sayuri said. "That's her over their." Akane looked toward Sayuri hopefully. "Why don't I go sit with her and keep her company. There's no room here for her anymore." Akane mouthed a thanks as the Tofu-Jr looked toward Sayuri.  
"Are certain we can't make room?" he asked.  
"That's fine," Sayuri said. She thought she saw just the tiniest amount of dislike leaking out of those eyes and directed toward Yuka. She frowned and took her lunch, cutting off Yuka. "Let's go sit somewhere else, Yuka. Akane is working on her Tofu fixation."  
"Oh," Yuka said, with an odd tone of voice. She glanced in that direction and shrugged, not really paying attention to anything in the sea of people and souls. "Well, I suppose this is a chance for the two of us to get to know each other for tonight."  
"Don't talk like that, Yuka," Sayuri said as they walked off. "You're giving me the creeps."  
  
************  
  
"Are you new in school?" Akane asked. The Tofu look alike blinked and looked up. "I mean, I've never seen you before."  
"Yeah, I sort of started today," the boy said. "I'm Kanzai."  
"I'm Akane," Akane answered. "Do you do martial arts?"  
"Some," Kanzai answered. "I'm sort of looking at being a doctor though." Little red hearts began to appear in Akane's eyes, though for some reason this seemed to make the would-be doctor slightly green. Fortunately Akane didn't notice the guilty pallor.  
"Say," Kanzai, said. "I'm uh...supposed to go to my music class next, would you know where that room is?"  
"Sure," Akane said faintly, dreamily. "There's nobody there now though." Kanzai shrugged.  
"Well, I couldn't be late then," Kanzai suggested as he finished his bento. Akane nodded vacantly. "Umm hello."  
"Hiii," Akane said, then she blinked. "Ummm...I mean, yeah, that makes sense. Here, let me finish up, and I'll take you there right now."  
  
************  
  
"Does anybody know where Akane is?" the teacher asked as he scanned the classroom.  
"I saw her showing some new kid around, I think," Sayuri said. "Did you see her Yuka?"  
"I had my attention elsewhere," the girl said in a way that mostly sounded innocent, though still put Sayuri on edge somehow. "Ask her brother-in-law here."  
~Did she recognize me?~ Ranma wondered as he frowned. "Nah, I haven't seen her."  
~Those jerks,~ Yuka thought to herself. ~They had to just go and take her on their own. I could have worked some fun in before that pervert Kuno joined us. Well, there is still Sayuri-chan. Isn't that right Yuka-chan?~   
The last was directed to a pained and pitiful soul chained deep within her mind. Of course she had to be stuck with the one soul so far that wasn't willing to help the demons now that she knew what was going on.  
The demon smiled at Ranma, who glared back. Sayuri looked back and forth between them and shivered.  
"I have to assume that she has..." the teacher was interrupted as someone walked into the room and tentatively walked to the teacher to hand him a note. "Saotome, it seems you are excused from classes again."  
"Err," Ranma said looking around. "Why is that?"  
"They found Tendo Akane," the teacher said hesitantly. "I'm afraid she...has acquired the same condition as her sister." The dominant whisper was suddenly along the lines of "it has to run in the family," and "you know how their mother died."  
Yuka, rather the demon in Yuka's body, meanwhile seemed to be enraged.  
"WHAT!?!" she shouted. "What happened to her!"  
"Calm down, Yuka," Sayuri said. "She'll get better, Nabiki is, and Nabiki isn't as strong as Akane."  
"Of course," Yuka said, calming down dramatically. "Of course. I'm just...worried that's all."  
Ranma refrained from smirking at the demon and revealing his involvement. Which isn't to say he didn't REALLY want to do it.  
"I'll go get her to the Doctor's I guess," Ranma said glumly. That he didn't have to fake, he REALLY hated this method of getting "allies" that were probably going to want him dead more than the demons did.  
"I think I could use that slumber party after all, Yuka," Sayuri said behind him, eliciting a wince from Ranma.  
  
************  
  
Ranma had NOT liked the reception he had received from the doctor as he brought in Akane. He had helped getting Akane in ice like they had with Nabiki, and then checked on her sister.  
The only thing that probably kept the doctor from trying to exorcise him on the spot was the fact that Ranma had apparently been nowhere near Akane after morning classes. In fact, Ranma had to be told about the situation like anyone else, something that had been confirmed by calling the school.  
Now all he had to worry about was Kasumi's reaction, and then he had to save a mortal girl from becoming a demonic servant of hell or whatever.  
Ahhh...life was good.  
"Akane is what?!!" Soun demanded. "Oh, my poor babies. Struck down in the prime of life." Genma narrowed his eyes and pulled Ranma to the side.  
"Are you doing something her, Boy?" Genma demanded.  
"What am I, nuts?" Ranma asked. Through it all Kasumi had been strangely silent, then she spoke.  
"Ranma, could I please speak to you alone?" she asked quietly.  
"Umm sure," Ranma said.  
"Nothing funny, boy," Genma warned, Soun was to distraught to notice as Ranma and Kasumi parted the company had headed for her room.  
The door closed behind him and Kasumi turned about, tears threatening to burst from her eyes.  
"Are you responsible for this illness that is striking my sisters?!" Kasumi demanded.   
Ranma took a breath and considered his situation. Looking about he sighed reluctantly and took another deep breath. Kasumi waited patiently hands gripped as she waited for an answer.  
Ranma leaning forward to place a kiss on her lips that seemed to literally set her body afire was not the answer she was looking for.  
"Sorry, 'bout this," Ranma whispered. "Please don't hate me when you wake up." He laid Kasumi back as her eyes started to close, and she started shaking.  
He looked around desparately, he needed a plan. Suddenly an idea presented itself.  
  
************  
  
Genma and Soun were galavanized by the sound of crashes upstairs.  
"Pop! Mr. Tendo!" Ranma shouted. "Get up here!"   
The two old men were up in a flash, arriving in the room in time to see a strange young man throw something about the size of a human body out the window. The sight of Kasumi on the bed, shaking and unconscious did not help matters.  
"How dare you attack my family!" Soun demanded launching forward.   
The youth smirked evily before jumping out the window into the night. Soun and Genma followed him to the window and looked out but couldn't see him anywhere.  
"Oww, damn it," Ranma said from below. "I see 'em Pop!" The young martial artist shouted before vanishing into the night, apparently after Kasumi's attacker. "Just take care of Kasumi!"  
"Why, I'll tear that wretch limb from limb!" Soun declared. "I'll..."  
"Easy, Tendo," Genma said. "Ranma has it handled, let's get your daughter to the doctor's." Soun regretfully agreed, nodding, though still looking angry.  
"You're right, Genma," he said. "I let my passion blind me to the true necessity here."  
  
************  
  
Ranma bounced through the night, hoping that Genma and Soun wouldn't notice the lamp and some clothing was missing. And he still had to keep Sayuri from getting to that slumber party.  
Ohh yeah...life was wonderful. 


	6. Author's Notes

In case you're wondering "why" on some of these  
things.  
  
Why 12? Because 13 was too hard to cast for when  
villain and hero sides are added together. There are  
12 separate sub-races for Hengeyokai in the Oriental  
Adventures book, I'm not using all of them, obviously,  
since that doesn't list bat...and since I'm not sure  
what exactly a raccoon dog is, that might get replaced  
too...  
  
As for other things....  
  
Why the kiss? Because its toned down and generalized  
from real myth. Real myth (source Encylopedia  
Mythica) says that a fox spirit makes a woman into a  
foxwoman by possessing her, and that the spirit enters  
through the woman's breast.  
  
I was already toning it down, but the first image of  
Ranma going after one of the guys settled it.   
Besides, mouth to mouth transferals of power are  
really more common anyway, and if someone wants a fic  
like THAT there is always "Ranma the Amorous Oversexed  
Nympho" by another fanfic author.  
  
What are the demons? The demons are going to be a  
combination of Christian possessing entities and a few  
other myths, basically, they're my schtick, not  
legitimate myth. As for why Ranma is hesitant about  
taking them. He's not certain how to kill the spirit  
and he doesn't WANT to kill the body (even if they  
make a deal like he thinks Kuno did) and thus ITS  
spirit...and since he DOESN'T know about exorcisms and  
such...so its not so much that they're powerful as it  
is they're hard to deal with  
  
Who's going to be what? Not telling, but most of the  
regular cast is tapped as heros, with one or two  
villains (we've seen Kuno already) and one or two one  
timers from the series as heros  
  
What animals?  
  
Well, Shampoo is a cat, Ranma is a fox, Mousse is a  
bat and the Tendos' animals are listed in Oriental  
Adventures...and that's all I'm saying. 


	7. Rescue

Ranma frowned as she, taking that form for the dual purpose of disguise and it had been too long since she last used it, looked at the sliver of sun that was sinking below the horizon. The whole day had taken too long. Certainly, any teenage girl was already well on the way towards where she planned to spend the night already.  
The only good thin was that she had snuck a peek at Yuka's address from the school files, so at least Ranma knew where she was heading.  
Now, in the past, Ranma would have been leaping over the rooftops to reach his destination. However, now she was finding flight to be much more useful.  
The falcon's form melted and reformed as it dropped toward the roof. Yuka's home was especially easy to find with Yuka's aura radiating out of it. Quickly a small red fox was dropping off the roof and landing on the low fence circling the small yard.  
The good news was that Ranma couldn't smell but faint traces of Sayuri anywhere about the house. She was a frequent visitor though it seemed that it had been a week or so since she had last been to Yuka's house.  
There was bad news as well. Violence, recent and terrible, and taken place at this house. The smell of blood and fear was strong, very strong. Ranma followed the scent as well as he could to a pair of dumpsters in a back ally.  
She didn't have to look in the dumpster to recognize the smell of human beings, she thought maybe two. Ranma hesitated to make a move to open the dumpsters then a thoughtful expression crossed her face and she shifted into her human form.  
  
************  
  
"You say she was attacked?" Dr. Tofu said angrily.  
"Yes, we saw the young man toss Ranma out the window," Genma said. "How that worthless son of mine could let such a thing happen, I'll never know."  
"This doesn't fit what I was told about your other two daughters," Dr. Tofu said. "Ranma said Nabiki just collapsed, and nobody knows, apparently, what happened to Akane."  
"You don't think Ranma could be involved," Soun said, aghast. "I'm certain that no son of Genma's..." Soun stopped to consider Genma's character.  
"This is nonsense," Genma said. "What possible motive could the boy have for attacking the girls in this manner?"  
"I don't know the intent of the...attack," Dr. Tofu said, grimmly serious as he too glared at Genma.  
"If your boy is the one harming my babies Saotome," Soun said angrily. Genma laughed nervously, wondering if his son had indeed done something to cause this fiasco.  
  
************  
  
"Oooohhh," Nabiki moaned as she woke up massaging her forehead. "That was some kiss." Her mind was already trying to work out just what exactly had happened in those five seconds.  
She quite quickly worked out that she wasn't in the school, recognizing Tofu's patient room. Further examination proved that it was night. So Ranma's "kiss" had put her out for at least the full day. Her father had already produced a tsunami from his wailing and tears.  
Looking to her sides she saw two paper dividers and the shapes of two more people laying in bed. She could feel that their bodies were in a riot of activity of some sort, though they weren't conscious. She resolved to stay quiet and not disturb them, though the two seemed familiar in some way.  
"Wait a minute," Nabiki said. She sat up and crossed her legs.   
She looked first to the left and concentrated. As she noted the soft glow of that person's aura her hackles started going up. Looking to her right finished the job.  
"I'm seeing chi auras," Nabiki said quietly, gripping the side of her bed tightly. She glanced around, not willing to investigate why the two women, she KNEW they were female, felt familiar.   
The sight the greeted her in the wall mirror across from her wasn't all that different from the one she was used to, aside from a very obvious fact. When Ranma had kissed her she had a very distinct shade of brown hair. Now it seemed that she had iron grey hair with black streaks apparently pointing toward her face.  
"Okay, they could have dyed my hair I guess," Nabiki said, looking at those black streaks.   
What's more was that, above and beyond the strangeness, she didn't really feel completely at ease. She felt comfortable enough, but it was more like she was putting on a good face for a visitor.  
"It has to be just the stress of not knowing what's going on," Nabiki said to reassure herself. She took in a deep breath and resolved herself to just completely relax for a moment. "Then I can plan out how to interrogate...Ranma...about this."   
Her voice was truly irritated. That changed as she felt herself...doing something. It was subtle, she almost missed it, but her little medative exercise left her aware enough to catch it.  
Especially the fact that she had to rearrange her seating position to avoid crushing her...something.  
Nabiki's eyes cracked open and she took in the mirror. She failed to notice that the room seemed significantly brighter than when she had closed her eyes. Considering what she did notice, this was not really a failure.  
  
************  
  
"AAAAIIIIIIIEEEE!!!"  
"Nabiki!" Soun declared loudly. Soon he and Tofu were rushing into the patients' room, leaving behind a very relieved Genma who was very tempted to leave the area while he had the chance. Family honor, meaning the chance for an easy retirement, convinced him to stay behind, against his better judgment.  
"Nabiki, you're..." Soun stopped as they came into the room to see a very shocked looking...creature sitting on one of Dr. Tofu's beds.  
"Sorry about this," the creature growled. She had a pointed face about half-way between a girl's and a tanuki's and was currently digging a furrow into the bed she was on as a racoon like tail swished behind her, peeking out from under the hospital robe. "Oh, you'll be sorry alright Saotome. You'll definitely be sorry."  
"What have you done with my daughter, demon?!" Soun demanded as he failed to see Nabiki anywhere.  
The tanuki turned around and looked toward her father and Dr. Tofu and flinched, uncertain how to proceed.  
"Daddy," she said, cautiously slipping off the table and taking a step back from the hostile looking martial artist. "I AM Nabiki."  
"Nonsense," Soun declared. "You're not even human!"  
"But..." Nabiki hesitated and looked to Tofu for help and noticed a hesitant but thoughtful look on his face. ~Okay I turned into this, I can change back...just concentrate. Putting on the best for the guest, that's right...~  
Soun watched was the tanuki closed her eyes and started to shrink back into the familiar form of his middle daughter. He flinched back in surprise and then frowned suspiciously.  
"Come on, Daddy," Nabiki said quietly. "It really is me."  
"Could she be possessed, Tofu?" Soun asked.  
"No," Tofu said, stepping forward. "Her aura is changed, but that is Nabiki, I should have recognized it immediately."  
"Nabiki?" Soun asked. Nabiki wanted to run and hug her father and beg for his support, but...that just wouldn't do for her reputation.  
"Daddy," she said irritably, with an arched eyebrow, arms crossed and the fingers of one hand tapping impatiently.   
Predictably the bundle of emotions that was Soun Tendo ran forward and wrapped his daughter in a powerful hug, giving Nabiki the contact she wanted with out really appearing to regress to a child that needed reassuring.  
"Well," Genma said from the door. "Everything is okay then, we'll just wait for Akane and Kasumi to wake up and everything will be fine." Three sets of eyes turned toward Genma Saotome.  
  
************  
  
Sayuri was a jumble of nerves as she walked quickly through the streets. She was late, very late, but with Akane joining her sister in this mystery disease she just couldn't get a handle of keeping track of time.  
Yuka was making her nervous too. She had been for a while actually, but that had been different. If she had to compare to anything it would be like the feeling she got when she felt she'd have to give the "let's just be friends" speech, but that wasn't possible.   
Today, however, Yuka had seemed downright...Kunoish. There was something about her that had set every alarm off. Still, this was her friend, and she seemed to need to get her mind off Akane and Nabiki as much as Sayuri did.  
Still, the mysterious surroundings had her looking into every shadow on the way and expecting some monster to leap out at her. She relaxed as she saw Yuka's house and it's lights. Soon she'd be safely in Yuka's house with her parents there to watch the night.  
Something dropped down out of the trees and bounced off her shoulder to land inbetween her and the gate.  
"AAAHHH!!!"  
  
************  
  
"Hmmm," the demon said, looking up. Then she smiled. "I do believe that was Sayuri-chan." The demon frowned. "I hope she didn't find my parents, that would make things somewhat more difficult."  
The demon shrugged and stood up, turning to the door.  
  
************  
  
"Oh," Sayuri said, catching her breath. "It's just a little fox."   
She breathed a sigh of relief and then giggled as the little fox sneezed and looked decidedly pitiful and dejected. It looked so cute, maybe she could keep it for a pet.  
As Sayuri took a step forward the fox skittered a few feet away and stopped looking back, decidedly more animated and cheerful looking. Sayuri blinked at the strange behavior.  
"Maybe it's already somebody's pet," she said taking another couple of steps after it. "It acts like it's playing a game."  
The fox backed away again, definitely seeming to be treating this as a fun game. Sayuri was going around the corner when the door to Yuka's house opened.  
"Sayuri-chan," Yuka called out. "Are you there?"  
Sayuri was too intrigued with the strange little fox to pay the sound much mind and continued further into the alley.  
"Are you through playing this game, K-Chan?" Sayuri asked teasingly.  
She was hoping to entice the odd fox closer to her. Especially with the terrible smell in this alley. Then she saw the fox vanish behind the dumpster with a little disgust.  
"Errr, I already started this," Sayuri decided.   
She walked forward carefully around the dumpster and found the fox just around the corner. It was staring at her very gravely and seriously now, before looking up toward the open dumpsters.   
Sayuri's eyebrows scrunched up at the definitely bizarre behaviour and glanced toward the dumpster wondering what had attracted the fox's attention. As she turned, her breath caught in her throat and her hand flew to her face.  
"Ohh, kuso," Yuka's voice said. "You found them." Sayuri whirled around, noting that the fox had vanished.  
"Yuka!" Sayuri shouted. "Your parents are dead!!"  
"What?" Yuka declared, switching gears quickly. "B...but they just left here, they can't be dead."   
She stepped forward toward the dumpster and tried to look around Sayuri to see what she was looking at. The other girl felt a cold chill spread down her spine as she wasn't pushed out of the way. Yuka loved her parents a lot more than this, and there was what she said first...Sayuri hadn't caught it at first, but.  
"L...let's go inside," Yuka said, frightened. "And, call someone...it'll be safe inside, please..."  
"You knew," Sayuri said quietly. She stepped away from her friend and trying to back down the alley, away from Yuka's house.  
"Come on, Sayuri-chan," Yuka said, she moved to cut off Sayuri. "Let's just go inside...we can call the police."  
"I...think I should go home," Sayuri said nervously, she tried again to get past Yuka.   
The other girl slammed her hand into the wall. The impact shattered more concrete than Sayuri thought she had ever seen Akane do.  
"Come inside!" Yuka was virtually growlling now. "You'll understand a lot better, once your inside."  
"Let me leave, Yuka!" Sayuri demanded.  
"Not until after you've been..." Yuka stopped talking as something knocked her heavily to the side. Sayuri watched her fly several meters down the alley and land crookedly.  
"No technique at all," a voice said.   
Sayuri looked to her saviour to see a furred girl with a heavily pointed, fox-like face. The girl's white tipped tail was swishing nervously, angrily as it stood between Sayuri and Yuka. Sayuri blanked out as the fox turned to her with an urgent expression on her face.  
"Let's get out of here before the others show up!" she shouted, grabbing the unresponsive Sayuri's hand.   
Out of some sense of loyalty to her friend, Sayuri looked over to see Yuka standing up and turning toward them. Her eyes were glowing a formless, empty white, but otherwise the world seem to dim around her.  
"Another fox!!" Yuka shouted, screeched, in a voice not altogether human. "Let go of my toy, little fox and I'll just skin you alive!"  
"I don't think so," the fox shouted leaning down and smashing the ground. Sayuri still just watched blankly as the ground rolled forward towards Yuka, finally exploding in an almost liquid way and dragging the girl down. "I don't know how long that'll hold it. So like I said...let's beat it."  
"But..." Sayuri tried as the fox-girl lifted her up and took off running.  
"Damn it," the fox said. "I was hoping you'd leave before she found you there."  
"Y...you showed me the bodies," Sayuri realized suddenly, turning pale. "K...k...k..."  
"Kitsune," the fox-girl supplied for her. She glanced back towards Yuka's house.  
"What's going on?" Sayuri demanded. "Where are you taking me? Wh....what happened to Yuka...why did she do that?"  
"I don't know where we're going," the fox-girl said. "An' I don't think that was your...ehh?" The girl looked up in time to shield Sayuri from a slashing attack. Sayuri felt herself rolling and then being sat down as the fox-girl stood between her and...  
"Kuno?!" Sayuri gasped.  
"Stay back," the fox whispered tightly. "They want to get one of their friends inta ya'." Sayuri pressed away from the fox-girl and took away her hands as she felt a wetness. Looking down she saw the woman's blood on her hands.  
"So, there are two of you," Kuno said. "She is ours little fox, you and your...mate? Can't stop us."  
"I recognize that sword," the fox said icily as Kuno smirked at her.  
"Ah, yes," Kuno said. "We took it from the last fox we destroyed. It had seemed more powerful in the spirit world, but I've acquired some of my host's love of this art, and it seemed a shame to waste such a weapon."  
"That's Kitsune weapon," the fox said, certain of himself. "I'll be taking it back now." The demon laughed.  
"Come and try," Kuno said, smiling.  
"There's a third," the fox girl whispered to Sayuri. "Stay close and call out if you need help. Just don't get close enough to the fight to get hurt."  
The woman blazed forward, and the possessed samurai smirked in response, moving to meet the charge. The flash of chi around the fox was visible even to Sayuri as the demon and fox began trading blows.  
Kuno struck forward in a barrage of heavy, lunging stabs that almost seemed a wall of metal. Sayuri couldn't see how the fox hoped to survive the attack, but the other fighter seemed to be blurring around the strikes with comprable speed.  
Sayuri couldn't understand way she hadn't moved yet, but she was too frightened to do much of anything but watch as the fox-woman slipped downward and flipped a kick up.  
Kuno flew backward, his sword flying free into the night to land in the fox-woman's hands. Kuno rolled back to his feet in time to see a tingle of magic flash as the kitsune's hand gripped the hilt.  
"Very impressive," he said. "But how much strength do you have left after that?"  
"Enough," the fox insisted, taking a stance with the sword.  
"You're holding back, so I'm practically fresh," Kuno noted, starting to circle her. "I have no compunctions about going all out though."  
A flash of crackling white and black ripped out of Kuno's hands and flew towards the fox woman. The Hengeyokai took in a deep breath as her chi again became visible and the blast washed over her reddish aura. Still she was pushed back several feet from the force.  
As the blast wore down, the girl fell to one knee breathing heavily. Sayuri's conscious mind started to consider just running into the night screaming, but still just watched, frozen in shock and terror.  
"You really should try harder," the demon smiled.   
The fox glared at him a moment, considering. She could take him out, easily, even now. But that would only be the body...and she wasn't entirely certain this Kuno deserved that.  
"Time to go, Sayuri," the fox-woman said, twisting about and grabbing the statuesque girl and bolting. Kuno blinked in surprise, but was pelting down the street after them. "Wish I...knew...how to work...this thing."  
Sayuri started to panic further as she could feel the fox-woman start to tire. Looking over her shoulder, Sayuri saw Kuno starting to catch up to them.  
"Kami, it hurts," the fox-woman whispered faintly. She glanced drunkenly toward her left and caught sight of botanical garden. "Lose him in the plants."  
Sayuri wanted to yell at her too stay focused, but her mouth just wouldn't work. The fox slashed forward with the katana to smash the window ahead of them. Then they were into the gardens, and the fox was greatly slowed down now.  
"What do you expect to find in here fox?" Kuno taunted from behind them. Sayuri couldn't see him from where she currently was though. "Quite an attractive figure you pose, fox. I can keep you alive long enough for some fun before I kill you. Turn over the girl and I'll let you keep your dignity."  
The words were wasted as Sayuri noticed, with a sense of resignation, that the girl's face was even more unfocused than her own. As the resignation started to hit she calmed down.  
"Poppa, not the pit, poppa," the fox whispered as it dizzily set Sayuri down, nearly dropping her. Then the fox crumpled against the planters breathing heavily. Sayuri saw her Chinese style shirt slashed in many places, and looked like she was bleeding from all of them.  
Sayuri looked back toward where she heard Kuno last and almost bolted right away. Instead she bent down to pick up the fox woman and try to drag her away. It was surprisingly difficult considering the girl's small size. She wasn't quite, tiny, but she was definitely bridging the gap of small and average.  
Sayuri found herself wishing that she had spent more time in the gym working out like Akane. The girl had to way at least a hundred pounds, and she wasn't helping Sayuri to move her much.  
"What's your answer little fox?" Kuno demanded, not far behind them now.  
"We're going to die," Sayuri thought. Then she corrected herself. "No, she's going to be raped and killed...I'm going to be...one of those."  
"Sorry," the fox whispered. "Not much of a hero."   
The fox steadied herself and started to grow. Sayuri nearly lost her hopelessness inspired calm as the fox girl became a fox boy. Instantly the fox seemed to be much healthier and was dragging Sayuri forward.  
"Y..you're still bleeding," Sayuri pointed out. The fox, very familiar looking now, looked down and cursed.  
"Damn it," he said. "I guess fatigue's the only thing that gets better." He could already feel himself tiring again.  
"Awww," Kuno said as he rounded the corner. "There you..." Kuno's visage twisted into a look of rage as he tried to step forward. The demon samurai covered his mouth and retreated away from them.  
"What the?" the fox asked. He looked around to see what was around them. "Violets, violets all the way to where he is." The fox smirked in a decidedly malicious way as he released Sayuri and started gathering his chi again.  
Sayuri looked at him in confusion until a window burst out of the fox man, whipping the violet petals out with it. Kuno hissed and roared incoherently as he rushed, terror clear on his face, away from the violets.  
"That handles that," the fox said dropping to his knees and leaning on the reclaimed katana. Then he shrink down into someone Sayuri did recognize.  
"RANMA?!" the girl declared, surprised.  
"Hai," Ranma said. "Sorry about this." Then he fell forward, eyes closing. Sayuri moved to catch him, and looked in shock at the wounds covering him. Whatever was going on, Ranma had the answers, and she WANTED those answers.  
"I need help," she said softly.  
"Don't worry on that account, child," a withered voice said. Sayuri looked up to see a little old woman on a staff standing in front of two...things. A cat and a bat, Sayuri thought.  
"Uhhh..."  
"Shampoo, Mousse," the old woman said. "See if the hannya is still in the area. It seems we arrived at least in time to collect our quarry with ease." The animal creatures nodded and seemed to fade away.  
"What is going on?" Sayuri asked.  
"That is something you and my great granddaughter will have to ask the fox," the old woman said. 


	8. War in Earnest

"And don't come back until you can cure my babies!!" Soun demanded angrily as he slammed the door shut on Genma. Genma left running, grumbling about ungrateful so-called friends, disrespectful women and most of all wretched sons.  
Soun glanced about his empty home and tried to maintain his stoicism in the face of the current situation. Even Nabiki had wished to stay with her sisters as if she were afraid of what she could expect from her home.  
Soun knew that his declaration to Genma was more or less a permanent exile. Dr. Tofu had explained that the change was permanent and that Nabiki was now permanently a member of another species, and that soon Akane and Kasumi would join her.  
Soun hoped that once his other daughters woke up that they'd all come back home, where they belonged. If they didn't, he didn't know what he'd do.  
Curse Genma and his stories about cursed springs. Curse Ranma for bringing this catastrophe about. And curse himself for inviting them.  
  
************  
  
Nabiki looked at her sister's sleeping faces and changing auras and clenched her fists together. Ranma would have to explain this, and then he would have to pay. That was the simple truth.  
How much he paid would depend greatly on whether he had a good reason for turning her family's lives upside down. What Genma had told them had been next to useless, and perhaps completely inaccurate. Nabiki didn't think Ranma had explained much of what he was doing to his father.  
The first priority was finding Ranma, and gleaning some answers from him whether he liked it or not. Unfortunately, Nabiki lacked the information she needed to make any sort of deduction like that. For all she knew, Ranma had packed up and vanished.  
She sighed irritably and stroked her sisters' foreheads before turning to the television and flipping it on.  
"You should go home and get some sleep," Dr. Tofu said. "You won't make things go any quicker by staying her."  
"I suppose so," Nabiki said looking over to Dr. Tofu. "You already called the school to say I'd still be recovering today, right?"  
"Yes," Dr. Tofu said. "You've been up all night. It's time to get some sleep."  
"Are you certain that it isn't that I make you uncomfortable?" Nabiki asked bluntly.  
"I'll admit it's strange," Tofu said. "But you're still Nabiki from all I can tell. I don't see why anyone should be more or less uncomfortable around you than they were before." Nabiki smirked proudly at that comment.  
"You know the kicker in all this, Dr. Tofu?" Nabiki asked.  
"What's that?" he asked her.  
"Kasumi suspected something," Nabiki said. "So did Akane, but she always suspects something so that doesn't count. Still, Kasumi figured out something wasn't right, and was on the way to figuring out what before I had a clue. That's embarrassing. Spilling the rice indeed."  
"Yeah," Dr. Tofu said, starting to get a little goofy as they started talking about Kasumi. "She's smart isn't she. I hope she isn't too traumatized by this."  
"I think we'll all figure it out fine," Nabiki said. "But I'd say the Saotome agreement is out the window now."  
"This just in," the television said. "A local student was orphaned yesterday when her parents were killed in vicious assault. The girl says a that a red-haired woman came in and killed her parents and kidnapped a friend of hers that was spending the night over."  
"She would have gotten me too," Yuka's voice said dramatically. "But I got away..."  
"Isn't that one of Akane's friends?" Dr. Tofu asked.  
"Yuka," Nabiki said. "Yes, it is. And a red-haired...woman? Could Ranma have a partner?"  
"Other news reports a fierce battle between unknown individuals in the same area," the reporter said after finishing with Yuka. "Perhaps these events are representative of some new criminal element, but whatever the case, we must, as citizens, take more care in the following days until the government can resolve the situation."  
Nabiki looked between the television and Akane, unconcious on her bed, hesitantly. Finally she turned to Dr. Tofu.  
"I'm going there," she said.  
"Are you certain that's a good idea," Dr. Tofu asked. "You aren't the fighter that Akane is."  
"I'll be okay," Nabiki said. "I just want to talk to Yuka and hear what she has to say. I'll almost certainly find some clue as to Ranma's location."  
"Just be careful," Dr. Tofu said. "If Ranma isn't the only one involved, you don't know what to expect."  
"I know how to handle myself with a school girl," Nabiki said dryly.  
  
************  
  
"Unnnn," Ranma groaned as he came awake. Almost instantly he felt the bounds that were holding him secure. "What the..."  
"Our guest is awake," a old voice spoke.  
"Wha..." Ranma's eyes cracked open and he saw himself in a small, poorly lit room. A chill ran through him. "Oh kami, it's over..."  
"Yes, it is over for stupid fox," another voice said.   
Ranma glanced around toward the voice and recognized the purple haired girl from that village. She looked pleased to see Ranma, though not really in a good way.  
"All right!" Ranma said, smiling. "Still in business."  
"Stupid fox," Shampoo snapped angrily, flicking her nose in her air and leaning back with a yawn.  
"Hey, where's the other guy?" Ranma asked.  
"Mousse is currently sleeping," Cologne said, hopping into the light. "Since your...visit both my great-granddaughter and he have been spending much more time awake at night."  
"Ah," Ranma said embarrassed. He almost moved to scratch his head, but remembered he was tied up. He sighed. "I'm sorry about that."  
"Sorry!!" Shampoo shouted in Chinese. She stood up and purposefully strode across the room to get in Ranma's face. "I am exiled, I am NO LONGER Amazon. You are dead as soon as you answer one question."  
"What question?" Ranma asked, looking nervous.  
"Why did a stupid Japanese fox have to come and ruin my life!!!" Shampoo demanded.   
Ranma swallowed nervously, remembering just what Shampoo was now. It wasn't so bad now as it had been before. For one thing, Ranma felt something of a connection with Shampoo. A responsibility that molified the fear of her c..c..c...feline nature. For another, Shampoo was human at the moment.  
"You got drafted," Ranma said simply in her native language. Shampoo flinched and stepped away from the fox to sit back down in a pout.  
"The hannya?" Cologne asked. Ranma looked at her confused. "Do you not even know what it is that you fight, child?"  
"Oh, what are they then, elder?" Ranma asked, respectful and sarcastic all at once.  
"The hannya, child, is a snake demon that makes a deal with a human in exchange for a physical body to effect the mortal realm with," Cologne said exasperated.  
"Elder," Ranma said. "They ain't nothing connected with animals of any kind. If you got close enough to see the demon, then SHE," Ranma nodded toward Shampoo, "was close enough ta see 'em for the outsiders they are."  
"Shampoo," Cologne turned toward her granddaughter.  
"I don't argue with my great-grandmother," Shampoo said crossing her arms.  
"They are hannya, however," Cologne said. "I have seen one before, many years ago in my youth."  
"As good a name as any I guess, I'll still call 'em voidlings myself," Ranma said. A sudden thought came to him. "Sayuri...they didn't get her did they?"  
"The girl you were with?" Cologne asked.  
"That weakling is in the next room," Shampoo said dismissively. She was leaning back in her chair against the wall with her eyes closed.  
"Some weakling," Ranma returned. "Most of the people round here woulda turned tail and run away screamin', but she helped me."  
"And why didn't you 'draft' her?" Cologne asked. "If she is so strong."  
"Strength of soul don't make strength of body," Ranma said firmly. "I don't want to kill nobody. Now I'd like proof that she's still around and not carrying about some voidling."  
"That is a reasonable request," Cologne said. "Shampoo, please bring the girl in here."   
Shampoo leaned forward, the front two legs of her chair slapping loudly against the floor as she turned a put upon look toward Ranma. She stood up and tossed her hair back striding arrogantly out of the room.  
Cologne noted the amount that Ranma relaxed as Shampoo left the room.  
"Does something about Shampoo make you nervous, fox?" Cologne asked.  
"Ever here of the Neko-ken elder?" Ranma asked.  
"You can sense what she is then?" Cologne asked. "Or did you determine it."  
"I just saw what she'd be before I gave her my gift," Ranma said. "I didn't decide it."  
"That was quite a 'gift,' child," Cologne said. "Incidentally, are you a boy or a girl?"  
"Both," Ranma said. "But that's just me, Elder, Shampoo ain't going to have to worry about that. Mostly I'm a guy right now though."  
"Ranma," Sayuri said as she was brought into the room. "You're alive..."  
"Yep," Ranma said. "Sorry about all this, Sayuri."  
"What's going on?" she demanded. "Who are these people, and what happened to Yuka?"  
"You really want to know?" Ranma asked. Cologne spoke something in Chinese that received a pouty huff from Shampoo before the exiled Amazon left the room again.  
"One of my best friend's tried to...do something to me last night," Sayuri said. "Another of my friends and her sisters are in comas in the hospital," Cologne's eyebrow arched. "I think you owe everyone some answers."  
"Okay," Ranma said, pausing a moment for Shampoo to arrive with a bleary looking Mousse. "Yuka ain't Yuka no more, she got possessed yesterday. She got tricked inta offering herself up in return for some favor from the demon in her."  
"What possible reason could Yuka have to sell her soul," Sayuri asked timidly, uncertain how to handle that.  
"You," Ranma said.  
"What?" Sayuri shreiked.  
"Yuka traded her soul in return for the chance to get into the sack with you an' Akane," Ranma said simply. Shampoo snickered from where she was imitating sleep.  
"Girl is too weak like a man," she said in Chinese. "Can't love like a real woman." Sayuri didn't understand it but caught the gist and flashed angrily red.  
Cologne sighed and pushed Shampoo's chair legs and inch forward, dropping the former Amazon in a tangle of chair and flesh.  
"What did Grandmother do that for?" Shampoo demanded.  
"I would remind Shampoo about her mother's 'friend' before she makes any further comments like that," Cologne said quietly to the girl.   
Shampoo virtually hissed in response but did not dispute her Grandmother, though anybody else would have been hurt. She grumbled as she sat back on her chair, keeping better awareness of her balance this time.  
"I am not a lesbian," Sayuri insisted angrily. Shampoo rolled her eyes and shrugged.  
"And what do these demons have to do with ruining our lives?" Mousse demanded in fluent Japanese for the benefit of the schoolgirl. Ranma flinched but growled back after a moment.  
"And what right do you have to kill someone over a bunch of food that can be replaced?" Ranma demanded. "Or because you got such fragile egos that ya gotta kill everyone that's better n' you?"  
"Is Amazon LAW!" Shampoo shouted in Japanese. "Is sacred!"  
"Is STUPID!!!" Ranma shot back.  
"What did you do to them, Ranma?" Sayuri asked suspiciously.  
"Yes, child," Cologne asked. "Explain just what happened during the two days my granddaughter and Mousse were lying unconscious in the healer's hut."  
"Unconscious for..." Sayuri's eyes widened.  
"Err...same thing I did ta the Tendo sisters," Ranma said remorsefully.  
"As in all of them?" Sayuri gasped. She stood up and rushed across the room to slap Ranma. The fox's head turned and then settled back, accepting the slap. "How could you do that to them? Especially Kasumi. How could you hurt her!" Sayuri demanded noticing Ranma wince with each question.  
"I got a dirty job," Ranma said quietly. "An I ain't got much time ta do it in, or much idea of how to do it."  
"That's no..." Sayuri started.  
"'Sides," Ranma said. "It was either I make 'em like me...or they take 'em. I know there were after Akane, an' I'm certain they'd like ta add the other two to the mix also. Either that or kill 'em. Which do you think is better?"  
Sayuri glared at Ranma and clenched her fists before walking to sit down next to the former Amazons where Mousse stood watching them.  
"What is job, Fox," Shampoo asked.  
"Our job...c...c..." Ranma took a breath. "Shampoo. Our job."  
"Shampoo not want job," the cat said, pouting and crossing her arms.  
"Yeah, well, there's a reason that twelve people like us are needed ta end this war," Ranma said. "Anybody can fight it...but hengeyokai, twelve hengeyokai, are needed ta end it for our good. An they need twelve of them to end it the other way."  
"And how many of you are there," Cologne asked.  
"Includin' us," Ranma asked. "Six so far, an' I'm the only that knows how ta make more, an' I don't know how ta teach it yet. I don't know if I WANT ta teach it period." Cologne watched him intently.  
"You truly don't like this situation," Cologne said. "Do you fox?"  
"Why would I?" Ranma asked. Cologne considered that a moment. "Shampoo, Mousse, Let's discuss this in the other room, we'll leave the Japanese to stew in their own affairs for now."  
"Why you not let Shampoo stay in one place?" Shampoo whined as she stood up and walked out the door.  
"Fox demon, we shall settle this soon," Mousse said angrily. Cologne hopped along behind them on her staff.  
Sayuri sat in her seat with her eyes jammed closed, sobbing quietly. Ranma watched her and the former Amazons leaving, taking each sign of how he had affected there life as a stab in the heart.  
Ranma took a deep breath. The ropes tying him were designed to still hold if he changed size. He could break them, but that would alert his captors. Still he had another way out. They thought they were dealing with a straight hengeyokai, not a master shapeshifter.  
He shifted into a snake and slid out of his bounds. Then shifted back into human form. He was still in a lot of pain, but apparently the old woman had healed a little. Otherwise he'd still be in bad shape, increased healing or no. As it was, another day of rest and he'd be good as new.  
"Hey, um Sayuri," Ranma said quietly from right behind her. Sayuri blinked and stared at Ranma for a moment before opening her mouth.  
Before she could scream Ranma, in a fit of panic bent leaned forward and silenced her with a kiss. Sayuri's eyes bugged out wide as his lips but hers and she started to wonder just how Ranma changed people. As Ranma broke off the kiss, she stared at him in blind terror.  
"Shhh, ya gotta warn Dr. Tofu and the Tendos, an' see if you can find out how ta get these demons outta somebody, k?"  
Sayuri nodded slowly, wondering if Ranma was about to do to her what he'd done to everybody else.  
"K," Ranma said. "I gotta get outta here. I ain't runnin' but they gotta calm down an' see what's fixing a bit before they can work with me. The Tendos too."  
Sayuri nodded again.  
"This is a war," Ranma said. "An your as much a part of it as I am. Everybody in the world is. Yer smart, yer brave, you can help us out here, got it?"  
Sayuri nodded again still nervous about what was going to happen.  
"Is somethin' wrong with you?" Ranma asked nervously.  
"Am I going to be like them now?" Sayuri asked nervously, waiting to collapse into a shaking unconsciousness. Ranma winced.  
"I can't do that to you," Ranma said. "It'd kill you. Besides, you can still do stuff they an' I can't." Sayuri breathed a sigh of relief and looked somewhat confused for a moment before her hand drifted up to her lips.  
"Then that..." Sayuri started to speak.  
"Ummm, sorry about that," Ranma said. "I panicked, an' I been doin' a bit of kissing recently." He looked to the room's door and then the small window. "I better get going."  
Then Sayuri watched as Ranma jumped toward the window, shifting into a slightly larger fox than the one she had seen before, and work his way out the opening.  
After Ranma was gone the shock wore down and all the conflicting emotions she had felt throughout the talk were released in one, loud scream.  
Outside, Ranma smirked as the three Chinese fighters burst into the room to see what was happening. In the second it took them to realize that Ranma had escaped, the fox was stepping into the room where he felt his new sword's aura and grabbing it.  
He felt their auras coming up toward him to check on the weapon, but by the time they reached the room, he was gone. The fox had become human just long enough to grab the sword, and then the sword transformed with him as he went out the window to join a flock of pigeons.  
  
************  
  
Nabiki approached Yuka's house carefully, and noted all the police in the area. She suspected, actually, that they would have moved her away from the scene of the attack by now.  
As she came closer to the house she began to feel distinctly ill at ease. Her spine felt chilled, and if she had been in one of her other forms she was certain all her fur would be standing on end.  
It was like she had felt from Kuno the day Ranma had kissed her, only she felt it a thousand times greater. When Kuno had surprised her before the chill had come and gone without her really paying attention to it. Now...  
Nabiki froze as she turned a corner to see Yuka speaking to the police with a tear streaked face. Standing amongst the human auras was that girl, radiating...emptiness.  
"Voidling," Nabiki whispered, backing away before the girl could notice her. ~That was what he meant, from outside...he meant outside our world...shit!!!~  
She turned away from the house and towards the other side of the street. She started to conceal herself in another person's yard but found herself unable to enter the building.  
~If I were smaller,~ Nabiki thought to herself. Then she sighed, realizing she could be smaller, and smell things much keener as well. ~And maybe I can smell out Ranma.~  
It took a moment for Nabiki to find a safe place and work out the changing instinct, and then she was skirting around the area, seeking Ranma's trail. Hopefully she'd find it and begone before the voidling saw her and her aura.  
It took less time than she thought to find a scent that was like Ranma but female and Sayuri. That she followed to another scene of police officers. There were much fewer officers on this scene, however, and no chalk outlines around the dumpster. Instead there were blood stains here and there.  
Nabiki followed the blood, the female Ranma's blood, idly wondering if Ranma's "partner" was actually a sister.   
She lost the scent at the botanical gardens, but the blood was easy to follow by this point. She followed it as far as she could, taking human form to avoid any animal control that might happen by, until it just stopped.  
That was as far as the middle Tendo was willing to go. She thought that the female Ranma must have gotten away, but even if she had she was incredibly hurt. If it weren't for the scent of violets everywhere she thought she could have maid out more information.  
"I'll have to settle for this," she thought and turned around to leave the scene. "And there is still your brother to worry about missy." She poked a finger at the blood.  
She didn't know whether the Saotome could be considered an enemy, but she was quite certain that he was for the moment less than a friend. Ranma had a lot to make amends for in her book.  
"Looks like a war in three directions then," Nabiki grumbled as she headed home. "I should start training again."  
  
************  
  
Ranma sat in the park, finding a small secluded place that was hard to see, easy to defend, and offered plenty of escape routes for someone like him. In front of him was his new sword, stabbed into the ground.  
He KNEW there were many things he could do with the weapon. He just couldn't remember how, or many of what. It was apparently one of the pieces of information his saviour had considered extra.   
Things like, just what the enemy had to do to win, why there had to be twelve hengeyokai, how they were supposed to end this thing permanently. You know, extra niceties like that.  
He took a deep breath and watched the setting sun.  
"Akane and Kasumi will be awake soon if not already," Ranma said softly, cringing.  
  
************  
  
"Oh my," Kasumi said with a soft chirp as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hand, wing, trembled as she reached out to touch the glass. She had brown, grey and black feathers scattered about with a hint of white towards her chest and abdomen. Her feet were bird-like talons and she spoke through a pointed beak. She walked around lightly, twisting her head like a curious sparrow.  
Next to her, Akane was pacing about, wringing her hands and snapping and growling.  
"I'll kill the bastard!" Akane snapped. "He attacks us, turns us into these freaks and plays with our heads! I'll kill him!"   
The youngest Tendo looked similar to Nabiki, though she was bigger, and seemed a great deal more compact besides. Her lengthened face was more square than pointed and her sharp teeth and jaws seemed that much more dangerous. Her fur was a speckled brown, and she had a long slim tail that was holding angrily still. She quite obviously packed tremendously more power per pound than Nabiki while at the same time being larger.  
"Quit being such a bitch, Akane," Nabiki said. Akane stopped pacing and turned to glare at her sister. Kasumi blinked and turned to her as well.  
"That is NOT funny, Nabiki," Akane said.  
"No, it wasn't," Kasumi added.  
"We're going to have to live with this," Nabiki said. "Might as well get used to it. An Ranma's future reckoning to the Tendo clan aside, we have bigger problems. Sit down Akane, I have more bad news for you. This is about Yuka and Sayuri."  
"What about them?" Akane asked nervously. 


	9. Animal Talks

"What are you doing, Akane?" Nabiki asked coolly. Akane turned to her and blinked in confusion.  
"To school, where else?" Akane demanded of her.  
"No, you're recovering," Nabiki said. "Stay at home and let's figure this out."  
"You don't really believe that Yuka is dangerous do you?" Akane asked. "It had to be some trick that Ranma pulled."  
"Nabiki is right to be cautious," Kasumi said bringing in breakfast to set on the table. "Please sit down, Akane."  
"Oh my girls!" Soun wailed. "I have let my own folly condemn you to this fate." Nabiki and Akane rolled their eyes.  
"Oh father, father, father," Kasumi sighed, shaking her head. "You should really have thought this through a little cautiously." Seeing that Kasumi was giving him even gentle reproach sent Soun into deeper paroxyms of grief.  
"So what do we know here?" Nabiki asked, getting to the point. "Very little, there are three supernatural factions at work within the Nerima area..."  
"Three?" Akane screeched. "What else is there?"  
"Ranma," Kasumi said. "These demons, and...ourselves." She hesitated on the last point.  
"Oh..." Akane said quietly. Then she growled. "That's right."  
"Yes, and Ranma told the doctor there was a 'bad bunch' out of China that got here ahead of him," Nabiki said.  
"That really isn't enough information to proceed," Kasumi said softly. "We need to know what they both are here for."  
"Then we can tear that lying pervert to pieces for what he did to us," Akane said angrily.  
"By the way, Akane," Nabiki said. "I was his fiancee, he surprised Kasumi, but you never said how he got your kiss." Akane flashed beet red.  
"That's not important," Akane said irritably. "What is important now is getting that jerk, from you say he even let his sister get hurt last night."  
"Actually I'm not sure of that anymore," Nabiki said. "Ranma's 'sister' had a much more identical scent to his than we do to each other."  
"You said they were both foxes," Kasumi noted. Nabiki nodded, though looking around at the three of them, sparrow, tanuki, and dog, made the thought of two foxes in the same family seem odd.  
"In any case we need information," Nabiki said. "I think I know how to get some."  
"You mean..." Akane paused, remembering how the dogs howling in the night before had been howling words during her brief time in hybrid form.  
"I...suppose that is the safest way," Kasumi said. "Oh dear...that'll be hard on you, Nabiki, there aren't all that many tanuki in this day and age."  
"It'll be harder on Ranma," Nabiki said smirking. "And sparrows and dogs are everywhere."  
"The first idiot to try to send me to the pound gets hurt," Akane promised irritably.  
  
************  
  
"It's no use, Grandmother," Shampoo said coming back as she dropped from the window onto her feet. The former amazon now had a pair of violet blooms braided into her hair, decorations that carried into her cat form.  
"You could find no information then, Granddaughter?" Cologne asked.  
"I found too much information," Shampoo said. "The fox is here, the fox is there, the fox is everywhere, the fox is nowhere. They think the fox runs away before the cats can see him. Maybe he knows I am looking for him this way?"  
"More likely he is avoiding the cats for other reasons," Cologne said. "Are friend Ranma has suffered the neko-ken training according to his own mouth." Shampoo froze in shock, suddenly worried. "Do not provoke his fear too greatly, and it should not be a problem. I dread to think what a creature like him in the neko-ken would do."  
"Perhaps Mousse's bats will bring a different tale," Cologne said  
She looked up into the ceiling as the named person dropped to the floor and yawned. Shampoo's yawn matched his, and she followed it by smacking her lips a little.   
"You will both be able to get some more sleep soon," she promised.  
"You don't have to sound so testy about it," Mousse muttered. "Withered up old monkey." The resultant knock on the head almost sent Mousse into a slumber.  
"You respect your elders, Boy," she snapped. "Now did you learn anything of import."  
"Nothing more than what we learned last night," Mousse said, shrugging. "Bat's don't spend time looking for foxes in the night."  
"That leaves us with our other captive," Cologne said.  
"She's just a weak Japanese girl," Shampoo said, shrugging the question of Sayuri aside as she worked on arranging the sofa the previous owners had left. It was the closest soft surface after all, but she still had to get it to just the right amount of comfort.  
Mousse was reluctant to suggest torturing the girl for what she knew. Suggesting such activity toward any female, even "weak foreigners" such as Sayuri, among even two ex-amazons was tantamount to suicide.  
"I have already made arrangements for her," Cologne said, apparently having noted Mousse's thoughts regardless. "I think we should begin to get an idea how to deal with hannya."  
  
************  
  
"He left me here with these gaijin...things," Sayuri grumbled to herself after listening to the arguing. And after Ranma's escape they had closed and locked the window, and tied up Sayuri. It wasn't as though they expected Sayuri to make it as easy as Ranma had, but they had their pride to think of.  
Sayuri was currently working on the tied-up portion of her problem. They may have taken a few extra precautions to keep their remaining prisoner, but they weren't nearly as cautious as they had been with Ranma. It hadn't taken her long to find a suitably sharp portion of the steel chair she was tied to and start rubbing the rop along that portion.  
"Warn the Tendos," Sayuri mutters. "And learn how to 'get demons out of people' he says. How does he expect me to do that stuck here? And the pervert KISSED me!! Making me think he was going to make me a werewolf or something, and all he's doing is sneaking a kiss in."   
She paused in working the rope to listen to the discussion out in the front room for a moment. Being in Chinese meant that she couldn't understand a word, but she COULD tell that they were distracted. Sighing in relief she cut the last strand of the rope.  
Rubbing her hands she stood up and looked around the room. In a moment she was quietly building a small stair to the window that Ranma had escaped out of. It had been difficult for him as a fox to work it open enough, and it would be a tight fit even all the way open for her, but it was the only escape she could see. She wasn't going to stay with these strange foreigners and wait for them to decide she was a liability.   
In climbing out of the room she almost kicked over her improvised stair, but managed to avoid that as she slowly dragged herself out of the window. She panted on the other side.  
"Okay, I have to find Akane," Sayuri said. "She'll know what to do about...everybody. But one quick stop first."  
She failed to notice a small, irritated looking, cat following her and yawning.  
  
************  
  
Ranma noted the scents around the botanical gardens and frowned. He wasn't sure that he was safe going in there, but the best clue about these things he'd gotten yet was this vulnerability to violets. That old woman probably knew more, but he already knew that would be a bad way to get information.  
Then there were his injuries. They were worse than he had at first supposed after the nursing the Chinese had given him.   
He was sore all over, and he already realized that he'd have to be very careful or else that first slash would reopen and he'd be in trouble again. Still, he thought he should be combat ready by the end of the day.  
He was reasonably certain of it at least.  
Then he smelled someone coming and froze, before his fox-face broke into a huge grin.  
~I knew she'd get out,~ Ranma said. Then he frowned. ~Damn, maybe I spoke too soon.~   
He glanced around quickly to make sure nothing was watching him, and then, with a shiver, turned into the last thing Shampoo would be looking for him as.  
Shampoo was chasing after the girl, grumbling about how she wasn't going anywhere they didn't already know about. At least the girl was smart enough to go get some violets before she went too far.  
"RRRRRRRRRR!!!!"  
The frightened, shaky hissing surprised Shampoo and she jumped away from the source of the sound prepared for a fight. She'd learned that frightened cats tended to do stupid things, like think they could take her. The pathetic red cat that she saw was hardly what she was expecting. There was something strange about its aura, but she expected that was just the terror she was seeing.  
"W...w.why..d..did you step on me!?" the cat asked shakily. "I w...w....wasn't doing nothing!" Shampoo relaxed and rolled her eyes irritably at the terrified cat.  
"You're in my way stupid cat," Shampoo said. "I didn't see you." She tried to go further, but the cat hesitantly, moving like a superfast, twitchy bullet.  
"D...didn't see me," the cat whined. "I was r...r...right in the m....m...middle of the street."  
"Get out of my way," Shampoo said, looming in the other cat's face. "Or I'll HURT you!"  
"I...if...if you want my territory," the cat said. "I....I'll move..."  
"I'm just passing through stupid!!" Shampoo shouted in a roaring, hissing shout that sent the other cat cringing. "Get out of way!"  
At this point the other cat seemed to be shivering uncontrollably.  
"Hey, you," a shopkeeper said, batting at Shampoo with a broom. "Shew, shew, get out of here!"   
Shampoo grumbled angrily and let herself be chased away. That girl couldn't be useful anyway, so why bother going through all the trouble. It wasn't as if she HAD any Amazon honor to maintain anymore. She didn't see Sayuri step out after the cat had left.  
"Thank you, sir," Sayuri said, then bent down to the shivering cat, which strangely seemed to be calming down.   
"I've heard of being afraid of mice," the man said. "But alley cats?"  
"I've had problems with that one before," Sayuri said grimmly, and then looked to the cute little red cat that had alerted her to the shapechangers present. "Poor dear, did that mean little bimbo scare you? Ahh! You're cut up all over, that little foreign bitch!"  
"Err...how could you know that cat is foreign?" the shopkeeper said.  
"I know who her owner is," Sayuri said, picking up the cat. The cat looked up at her blinking and meowed quite convincingly before snuggling comfortably in the nice human's arms.  
"Oh, I see that," the man said. "You said you were here for violets?"  
"Yes," Sayuri said.  
"Well," the man said. "Somebody had a fight in here last night, and most of the violets were scattered about. The police wouldn't come, said they had bigger problems than 'vandals.' You can have what you can find. I can't sell them."  
"Oh thank you," she said. "I'm not really using them for decoration anyway."  
"Warding off evil?" the man asked jokingly. Sayuri blinked and looked up.  
"Hmmm?" she said. "Excuse me?"  
"Just a joke," the man said. "There are a lot of legends about violets from many parts of the world."  
"Like what?" Sayuri asked.  
"In one myth, they came about from the blood of a slain god who's mother took the flowers and set them as decorations to remember him," the shopkeeper said. "The greeks thought that they were created when Zeus turned the tears of one of his mistresses into flowers to provide her food while she hid in the form of a white cow. There are many such beliefs."  
"But the warding off evil thing?" Sayuri said.  
"Just one of the mythical uses," he said. "You don't believe in that do you?"  
"No..." Sayuri said. "That would be silly, wouldn't it kitty." She blushed as she found herself talking to the cat. ~At least this one won't talk back to you. And when I get my hands on that fox, he'll give me some better answers than just, 'this is war.'~  
In Sayuri's hands, the person in which the hope of the world lay calmly considered the tantalizing way that Sayuri's bangs hung down toward him.  
"Oh stop playing with my hair, you," Sayuri said.  
"You know girl," the shopkeeper said. "You seem familiar."  
"Well, I live around here," she answered, noticing a paper blow by with the headling "girl kidnapped." She did not want to be found publicly yet, not until she got somewhere safer, like with Akane.  
  
************  
  
"The sparrows were...confusing," Kasumi said. "They had a great deal of information about the changing of the seasons and the where the best meal worms can be found, though they've been competing with the bats for such insects. At least they were all quite polite. Oh yes, I am to watch out for cats since they have been much more active since last night."  
"Okay," Nabiki said. "I struck out too, none of the tanuki saw a fox in the last week, but they said they'd keep an eye out. How about you Akane?"  
"A fox fought a demon on Yuka's street," Akane said soberly. "The dog said the fox was losing badly. Whoever she was she's probably dead, and Sayuri with her." Nabiki turned to her sister and laid a hand on her sister's  
"I really don't think so," Nabiki said. "Otherwise Yuka wouldn't be trying to draw them out with that news story. She or it'd make something else up."  
"That still leaves Yuka," Akane said quietly. "My two best friends, and ones missing while the other is taken over by some demon, while I'm in bed because some pervert wanted to satisfy some weird wet dream."  
"Everything will work out fine," Kasumi promised her.  
"Tadaima!" a desparate and nervous sounding voice called out. "Is anybody here?"  
"Sayuri?" Akane blinked, then she was up and running as the caller's scent was brought to them. "What are you doing here? The news said you were kidnapped! Oh, what a cute cat!" She leaned down tickled the yawning cat.  
"He got in a fight he shouldn't have," Sayuri said, she glanced at the speckled brown color of Akane's hair and sighed nervously. "Akane, I have to tell you about Yuka." Akane turned grave and looked up.  
"I know," Akane said. "She's possessed by some demon, and it's all that Ranma's fault!" The cat in Sayuri's hand seemed to look at her strange as she said that, but that had to be imagination.  
"There's more Akane," Sayuri said. "Umm, is Kasumi awake yet? I'd like her to see to...um...Cat here." ~Oh, real original name there.~  
"Yeah, sure," Akane said. "Hey, wait, how'd you know about Kasumi."  
"Ranma," Sayuri said simply. Akane nodded and narrowed her eyes.   
Nabiki saw the girls come back in with the cat, and just to be on the safe side looked the cat's aura over carefully. Everything seemed perfectly cat like about the little creature. Nabiki watched a little longer just to be sure and then paid it no mind.  
"Oh my," Kasumi said. "What happened to the poor thing?"  
"He got into a fight with something like Ranma," Sayuri said. That brought the attention of all in the room. "Can you patch him up, Kasumi?"  
"Of course, please," Kasumi answered. "Take a seat." She accepted the cat, which reluctantly left Sayuri's grasp to allow itself to be held by a new human. Kasumi blushed as the cat sniffed her and proceeded to happily lick at her hand.  
"Well, seems like he likes you Kasumi," Nabiki said. "Or at least how you taste." She smirked as Kasumi gave her a firm reproving look and walked into the bathroom to find the first aid kit.  
"So what were you doing with Ranma?" Akane asked. Sayuri took a deep breath and began to tell the story of what had happened to her last night.  
  
************  
  
Ranma blinked awake with a feeling of warmth and looked about. Suddenly he froze as he smelled the cat in the room. It was a few moments before he remembered that he was the cat, and his terror was reduced to mere discomfort.  
Then the terror came back as Ranma realized where he was. In Tendo tea room. With the three AWAKENED Tendo sisters. In Sayuri's lap. This was not good, how had he gone so long undetected. He didn't think he could fake a cat aura for much longer than a minute or two.  
Unless, of course, he had fallen into the neko-ken. Ranma would have smacked himself in the head if he could.  
"Settle down, Cat," Sayuri said gently, stroking Ranma soothingly. "Kasumi said you had to take it easy for a few days." She sounded somewhat worried.  
~I wonder where she got that name,~ Ranma asked as he puzzled out the English word.  
Ranma would have purred if the fact that he was currently a cat in a room with people that would skin him alive the moment they recognized him.  
"So there's a fourth faction in town," Nabiki said. "And Kuno is one of the demons, too."   
"Ranma said there were three of them," Sayuri said. "Then he left me to get myself away from those gaijin."  
"He's a perverted jerk all right," Akane said, trying to work around the whole fact that Ranma had been female for most of Sayuri's rescue.  
"He's going after six more people then," Kasumi said.  
"And the question is," Nabiki said. "Do we stop him?" The table was quiet for a moment.  
"Well, of course we stop him!" Akane said. "Otherwise we're just as bad as he is! And if he REALLY only did it to keep us from being possessed, what about Yuka and Sayuri?"  
"He said it would kill me," Sayuri said irritably.  
"Pervert probably just didn't want to bother with you," Akane said, unaware that that was pretty much an insult to Sayuri and Yuka.  
"Sayuri," Kasumi said. "Why don't you take Cat upstairs and make him a box and then we'll get back to this."  
"Hai, Kasumi-san," Sayuri said, giving her friend a hard look that Akane missed. ~Wonder what she would say if I included that kiss in my story.~  
She realized that Akane was going through a hard time, but so was she damn it. She'd just spent a day thinking one of her best friends was dying, been attacked by her other friend, chased through the streets by a demon and held prisoner by Chinese barbarians.  
She had finished settling Cat into a bed and was leaving the room when a rustling alerted her. She turned about to see a little red fox with a sheepish expression look at her apologetically and then jump out the window.  
~He sat there in my lap the whole time,~ she thought. ~And at my chest...and I....ARRRRRGGGHHH!!!!~  
"THAT PERVERTED LITTLE FOX!!!" 


	10. Experienced Help

"Wait," Nabiki said as the wind blew a new scent into the room. "Do you all smell that."   
Kasumi just blinked, uncertain what Nabiki was talking about, but Akane growled angrily as she smelled a certain person in her house. It didn't bother Akane that the only time she had previously smelled that person was before she had become a dog, what mattered to her was that she recognized the scent.  
"THAT PERVERTED LITTLE FOX!!!" Sayuri shouted angrily upstairs, provoking the three sisters to action. Akane was up the stairs toward her shouting friend while Nabiki headed for the door of the house.   
Soun met his middle daughter outside and looked around for any sign of Ranma.  
"Was that honorless Saotome here?" Soun demanded angrily.  
"I don't know how he got in without us knowing," Nabiki said. "But he was here."  
"Well, he shan't do you any more harm as long as I draw breath," Soun declared. "You hear that Ranma! Stay away from this home."  
Nabiki, being much more capable of seeing in the dark than her father, caught sight of a faint flash of red over the wall and then she was off, scrabbling over the wall as a tanuki.  
"Nabiki, wait," Soun called out. "Don't fight him!"  
Nabiki had no intention of fighting Ranma, but she wasn't about to let him get away this time. Besides, she had support if she was right. Most sparrows didn't fly in at night as far as she knew.  
  
************  
  
The sight of Akane bursting into the room in full hybrid form was, to say the least, disturbing for Sayuri. She back pedalled quickly from the fierce looking dog person and had to check the impulse to scream at the top of her lungs again. This time in terror.  
"Akane don't DO that?!" Sayuri gasped.  
"Where is he?" Akane demanded, looking and sniffing about the room. "I can smell him in here."  
"He jumped out the window," Sayuri said irritably. "He WAS the cat! The little pervert was sitting there listening to us the whole time. And to think I thought that Chinese cat gave him those wounds..." Sayuri paused a moment as she considered that.  
"But, he's a fox," Akane said. "How can he be the cat too?" Sayuri didn't seem to be listening, and then Akane looked out the window and saw her middle sister take off after a red fox. ~She'll get herself killed!~  
Sayuri snapped out of her awareness as Akane jumped out of the house and landed as large brown dog, easily one hundred pounds, that easily leaped the wall. She saw the Tendo patriarch about to follow and called out.  
"Tendo-san, please don't go," Sayuri called out. "Wh..what if something comes here!"  
"But..." Soun pointed helplessly towards the direction his daughters had run.  
"They can take care of themselves," Sayuri said. "Are you really going to leave a helpless little girl all alone and defenseless in your house?"   
Soun sputtered.  
  
************  
  
Ranma looked back and tested the air. All three of the girls were after him. He winced at the thought and then sighed. He could lose them probably...  
Or he could give them a little training.  
  
************  
  
Akane had long ago passed up Nabiki in the chase and could see Ranma ahead of her. She was so close she could almost feel the heat of his blood on the night air.  
~If only people would just get out of my way,~ Akane thought irritably.   
She continued to bark loud and angrily as she pelted down the street crowded by people heading home after a long day of work.  
Then the fox took a leap almost straight up about twenty feet. Akane blinked in surprise and followed the fox's trajectory for a long moment before Ranma flipped in the air lunged toward a store front and virtually rocketed off the building onto the roof of car, off that car over the other lanes of traffic and across the street.  
Akane watched this with a slack jaw, a curious expression on a dog, until she realized that she was still running in the same direction. Which was about the time she smashed into the fruit vendor. She stood up and shook herself out, paying the frightened vendor no mind as Nabiki flew past her.  
"Are you going to get into the chase, Akane?" Nabiki twittered, though Akane could somehow understand her despite the strange accent. Akane growled irritably and took off after Nabiki across the street.  
"Leave off the jokes, Nabs!" Akane shouted back angrily. ~Lucky that Ranma choose to cross the street just in time for us to use the crosswalk.~  
  
************  
  
"Here you go," the store vendor said, smiling as he passed the shishkabobs to his customer. "Please come...AHH!!" Something small and furry ran past him and he virtually jumped. The flash of red leaped up away from the man onto his cart.  
"What the hell was that?" the customer asked looking down the side walk to the flash of red that was busily dodging people.  
"A...a...fox?" the shopkeeper said.  
"In the city?" the customer asked. "Hey!! It stole my food!!" They both looked angrily down the street where cries of surprise marked the fox's passage. The screams of dismay, crashes, and loud barking coming from behind them refocused that attention.  
As they turned around they both barely had time to duck as a dog seemed to virtually blow through the food cart without stopping. People jumped to the side as the beast charged away in the direction of the fox.  
At this point a tanuki dropped a pile of money in front of where the shopkeeper cowered on the ground, and a wallet in front of the customer.  
"A...tanuki?" the shopkeeper said. "Hey!! There's five thousand yen missing!!"  
"And I'm missing two thousand!" the customer whined as he looked through his wallet. Both men found a note in their funds and looked at it curiously.  
"Finder's fee?"  
A sparrow alighted in front of the two men and gave a very good imitation of a formal and apologetic bow to each before flying down the street as well.  
"Err..." the two men said.  
  
************  
  
Ranma paused a moment to catch his breath and check his injuries. He glanced back and saw that one or two of his wounds had reopened, and that shouldn't have been a particularly difficult run either. He was already badly winded and from what he could tell Akane was practically fresh.   
Sayuri had mentioned something about Kasumi saying he should take it easy. She was right, not that he really had time, but this night's activity had been rather useless. All he had done really was blow off some steam and probably send a flare up for the enemy.  
He assumed he had a few seconds before the caught up to him after his last trick.   
Akane had managed not to run into the last few carts, but Nabiki was already starting to drop off. He wasn't certain about Kasumi.  
"I should be taking it easy," Ranma muttered to himself, still in fox form.   
"Okay," he said. "A few more minutes and then lose them. This attracts to much attention anyway." ~But it certainly is fun, and maybe I need more of that.~ Then the sound of Akane barking could be heard, and the chase was on again.  
Ranma ducked as a black shape swooped down on him.  
~Scratch that!!~ Ranma decided quickly as he got a better look at who had just swooped on him. A bat had joined the chase. When he found himself dodging knives the idea of ending the fight seemed to be even more appealing.  
"Get back here Ranma!!" Akane growled out.   
Ranma winced, and then smiled as much as a fox could smile. He could see Mousse coming around for another pass, and as Akane bounded towards him, he sprinted towards a streetlight and became a bat in time to swoop through the light.  
"Changing into something else won't help you get away from me!" Akane shouted, already looking for something to jump off of. She changed her mind when a small black shape skeetered past her, muttering about having to change directions.  
Mousse suddenly found himself with other problems than trying to outfly Ranma as Akane pursued him, angrily ignoring the fact her nose was telling her that this wasn't Ranma.  
"AHHH!! Stupid fox, you can't fool me this time!" something shouted as it dropped down on Akane's back.  
"Wait, Shampoo!" the bat yelled. "That's not!!" The dog angrily rolled as the cat clawed into its back and Shampoo slammed into a wall, surprised at the sudden reaction. Certainly it had no grace or finesse, but the raw power was tremendous.  
"Sushi...." Shampoo muttered happily as she voiced her commentary on Akane's defensive reaction as well as she was capable of at the moment.  
"How dare you hurt my Shampoo!" the bat demanded, landing and shifting into his hybrid form. Akane gulped as she grew into her hybrid form as well and stared across at Mousse in the lot.  
"Ummm, okay, I think I have the wrong people here," Akane said.  
"Die you beast!!" Mousse shouted.  
  
************  
  
Kasumi blinked and stared as a bat flitted unsteadily past her going the other direction.  
"'scuse me," the bat muttered.  
"Oh, it's all right," Kasumi responded as she continued to scan the streets for Akane.   
It was a moment before she realized that the only animals other than sparrows she understood were her sisters. Then she stopped in confusion of whether to look for the bat that had just passed her, or continue looking for her sisters.  
She quickly decided to go back to looking for her sisters, and immediately found Akane in a battle with a bat-man.  
Akane was not having an easy time of it, despite the fact that she obviously had a great deal more physical strength than the bat.  
Kasumi swallowed nervously a moment as she swooped down and landed, taking her own hybrid form.  
"Stop! Stop!" she shouted. "We're not trying to hurt you!"  
"Kasumi, stay back!" Akane shouted, moving in front of her sister. "This guy's good."  
"That bitch hurt my Shampoo," the bat growled, pointing to where a purple cat was shaking her head and standing up into a hybrid form.  
"She landed on me and clawed into my back!" Akane shouted back.  
"I think you fox in disguise, stupid dog!" Shampoo shouted angrily. "And then you stupid slam Shampoo into wall!!"  
"We're all after Ranma here!" Kasumi reminded them. "Not each other."  
"Then why you fighting us?" Shampoo demanded.  
"I SAW Ranma turn into a bat!" Akane said, glaring at the bat.  
"So that's why you chased me," Mousse said.  
"Would all of you just shut up?" a voice said above them. "All that whining and wailing, you're giving me a headache."  
Everybody looked up to see a tall man with long hair crouching on a gargoyle overlooking the lot.  
"Who is you?" Shampoo asked.  
  
************  
  
Nabiki walked into a side alley and shifted into hybrid form unconsciously. She leaned against a wall and worked to catch her breath.   
She frowned as she considered the folly of trying to keep up with a pair of martial artists that had spent their lives practicing. Still, she imagined that there weren't many people who could go through that sort of activity.  
To calm herself down she started counting the money she had picked up in her sister's wake and pocketing it. Idly she wondered where her clothes went while she was a tanuki, but was too tired to follow the line of questioning further.  
"Excuse me," a voice said. "Would you like to come in and rest there?"   
Nabiki looked up to see that she had come to a stop in front of an old shrine. Looking toward the voice she found someone in their late twenties, maybe earlier thirties, with long dark hair and a concerned look. Nothing that really set her apart unless you included her aura.  
Nabiki gasped as she took it in. That woman was beyond merely powerful if she read the aura correctly.  
"I'll be fine," Nabiki said.  
"Really," the woman said. "You should come into the shrine before someone sees you."  
"What are you talking about?" Nabiki asked until she looked down and noticed the fur. "Oh...hey, wait, why aren't you up in arms about this?"  
"I've gotten used to things like this," she said. "Come in, please, I have another guest to attend to as well."  
"Uh, sure," Nabiki said. "I could just change to human form though."  
"The shrine is safer regardless," the woman insisted. Nabiki hesitated. The woman did not feel dangerous, at least not dangerous to her. But if she was wrong she had practically no way to fight her.  
"I could use some tea, I guess," Nabiki said.   
She walked into the shrine with the woman. Indeed the instant she crossed the gate, she felt safer. As she walked, her attention was drawn to an old well to the right of the property.  
"I was going to pay you a visit anyway," the woman said out of the blue. "After my husband got back to town."  
"Excuse me?" Nabiki said.  
"I assume you've noted the flows of power toward your dojo, Tendo-san," the woman said. "After all, you've been brought into the front lines of this war."  
"How do you know who I am?" Nabiki demanded, stopping on the pathway.  
"Long ago," the woman said. "A terrible ritual was performed on your family's land. A sorcerer cracked a hole in the universe to summon an alien demon that would give him power."  
Nabiki flinched in surprise and shock.  
"Your dojo is built on the focus point of that gate," the woman continued. "My husband and I were planning to pay you a visit and help you defend it. Though I see now somebody else has."  
"My home," Nabiki said. "Is the site of a gate between our world and the hells?"  
"No, not the hells," the woman said. "Nor the kami plane, but something outside all of us. Nabiki Tendo, you live on ground on one of the few places were demons and gods and mortals fought and died on the same side."  
"How would you know this?" Nabiki demanded.  
"I was there," the woman said simply. Nabiki boggled.  
"HOW?!!" Nabiki did not like being so in the dark.  
"I'll go into more detail in a moment," the woman said. "When everybody else is here."  
"Everybody else?"  
"Yes, everybody else," the woman said. "And don't worry about your home, I sent an old friend to help protect it while we talk."  
  
************  
  
Soun answered the knock on the door cautiously, ready to pounce if the person on the other side turned out to be an evil demon out to destroy them.  
"Hey," the teenaged boy on the other side of the door said. Though Soun only saw the fox-features.  
"RANMA!!!!!!" Soun roared angrily.  
"AHHHHHHH!!!!" the fox-boy screamed as Soun's demon head was launched. "WHO'S RANMA?!?!! I'm from a shrine!!!" He shakily held out a card, which Soun took after deflating to normal.  
"What's this?" Soun said.  
"A shrine with business cards?" Sayuri asked. "So what's your...name?" Sayuri looked at the fainted fox-boy.  
"Perhaps I over did it," Soun said.  
  
************  
  
"Oh, yes," the woman said as they walked into the building proper. "I'll have you treat this as neutral ground while you're all here."  
"And just why would I need to do that?" Nabiki asked suspiciously as she considered the fact that there was another guest. Then they walked into the tea room and there was Ranma lying passed out on the floor.  
"He fell into my yard," the woman said. "His wounds would have killed him, if I hadn't invited him onto my land when I did." She shook her head. "Wasted all that energy on that chase tonight."  
"Who are you?" Nabiki demanded.  
"Higurashi Kagome," the woman said. Nabiki blinked for a moment and remembered the the woman's comment about being there long ago.  
"But if your THAT Higurashi Kagome...that would make you over four hundred years old!" Nabiki gasped.  
"That gets complicated," the woman said, smiling. 


	11. Storytelling

"What do you mean it's complicated?" Nabiki asked. "How old are you?"  
"It really isn't polite to ask such a personal question like that," Kagome said.  
"No, I don't suppose it is," Nabiki said. "It isn't really polite to parade the person that turned over my life and say 'don't hurt him' either."  
"It ain't like I want to do this," Ranma said, sitting up. He looked around and blinked. "Where am I?"  
"This is my family shrine, young-fox," Kagome said. "Now lay down and stay there!" Kagome's voice was definitely charged with power as Ranma could attest by the fact that he was suddenly lying down on the futon.  
"Hey!" Ranma said, glaring up at the smiling woman.  
"How did you do that?" Nabiki asked, staring at Ranma.  
"It's an old trick," Kagome said, not mentioning that her original uses of it had been through the power of an enchanted necklace rather than her own ability. "And he needs to rest." Kagome said insistently, while looking through the cupboard for something.  
"I can heal fine with a couple hours of rest," Ranma muttered. That was a trick he hadn't acquired from his transformation. It was something that Ranma had required to actually survive up until Jusenkyo.  
"You can rest here," Kagome said. "I swear, all you idiot spirits are the same. Shouting about how you're fine and you don't need help." She was still rooting around in the cupboard.  
"Whatever," Ranma said.  
"Ahh, here it is," Kagome said. "I knew it was in here somewhere. Never go adventuring without it." She turned around to produce a spray can of disinfectant and proceeded to spray Ranma's various injuries.  
"Now," Kagome said. "I'm going to call your father, Tendo-san. Please attend to Ranma while I'm gone."  
"I'd love to," Nabiki said, smiling darkly.  
"I wonder what's taking Inu-Yasha so long," Kagome asked. "They're just a bunch of kids."  
  
*******  
  
"Look," the white-haired man said. "We can continue doing this the hard way, or you all can get up off your asses and come with me nice and calmly." He sat there, elbow leaning on his knee and fingers tapping the side of his face.  
The three fighters of the group panted as they stood up and faced across the vacant lot at their opponent. Kasumi, at Akane's insistance was staying in the back and watching as they tried to throw themselves against the dog-demon.   
And Kasumi could feel that he was a demon, not a, shapechanger like her and her sisters. He practically radiated dark power and aggression. Kasumi just wished that Nabiki was there to say if this is what she had felt from Yuka.  
"Dry up and die!" Akane roared charging forward.  
"We never give up!" Shampoo added along.  
"You'll never beat us all demon," Mousse shouted. Inu-Yasha sighed and buried his face in his hand, shaking his head.  
"These kids need to get stronger," he said as they charged toward him. "Badly." Then he looked up and cracked his knuckles. "Hard way it is then."  
  
*******  
  
"Ohhh," the fox-boy said as he sat up. Then remembered why he'd fained. "AHHH!! Where's the youkai!?! Where's the demon?"  
Sayuri blinked and looked up at the fox-boy clinging from the ceiling and glancing around frantically.  
"That was just Mr. Tendo's demon head attack," Sayuri said. The fox jumped down and rushed the Tendo patriarch.  
"ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK!!!" he demanded.  
"I'm sorry young...sir," Soun said. "But a fox spirit recently assaulted my daughters, and I thought perhaps that you were him."  
"Well, I'm NOT!!!" he protested.  
"Excuse me," Sayuri asked. "What ARE you here for?" The fox-boy turned around to look at her and blinked.  
"Errr...Kagome told me to come and protect you while she talks to everybody else at her shrine," he said.  
"Uhh...who?" Sayuri asked.  
"Higurashi Kagome," he said. Sayuri and Soun flinched. "We were heading this way when we saw that fox playing games with three other hengeyokai. Kagome went back to the shrine, Inu-Yasha went to talk to the chasers, and I came here."  
Sayuri tried to consider that thought for a moment, Higurashi Kagome was a rather obscure mythical figure, but one she tended to take a bit of interest in. After all, supposedly her family was descended from the woman, assuming she had ever existed that is. Anyway, she had something more important to consider.  
"AHHHH!!!" she shouted. "There's a demon stealing the underwater from Kasumi's laundry basket!!!" Suddenly Soun and the fox-boy were both huddled behind her.  
"WHERE?!" the fox-boy asked in a terrified voice.  
"Oh no!" Soun wailed. "The master's escaped, Genma why have you abandoned me!"  
Sayuri blinked and sweated nervously.  
"Ummm, where's this shrine then?" she asked, as the phone rang.  
  
*******  
  
"So, Saotome," Nabiki said, sitting next to him and lounging. She cracked her knuckles. "What are you going to tell me that'll make me forgive....this?" She waved at herself demonstratively.  
"No choice," Ranma said. "I already told you that."  
"You didn't even ask," Nabiki pointed out, she glanced at her claws and played at filing them. Ranma mumbled something unintelligible. "I didn't quite catch that Saotome."  
"I had planned to," Ranma said. "Ain't like I had to do it and get out like at the village."  
"So why didn't you?" Nabiki asked.  
"Why do you think?" Ranma asked. He shifted around to stare at her and decided that Kagome's spell must have been wearing off. "Kuno was in your class! You're strong, the news would probably call you and yer older sister world class martial artists, they don't know 'bout fighters like me an' Akane after all. You're smart. And you've got a devious an' greedy streak a mile wide. You're perfect for 'em."  
"And your answer was to do the same thing they did?" Nabiki asked. "Take away any choice I had?"  
"I've seen what'll happen if they get over here," Ranma muttered. "She got a glimpse of their mind before they left her for dead."  
Nabiki ignored the comment about someone dying for the moment.  
"And what'll happen, Saotome?" Nabiki asked.  
"There used to be another planet with life around this sun," Ranma said. "An that's where they went first. Next one out from us."  
"You mean, Mars?" Nabiki asked. "You're saying we're being attacked by aliens from outer space?"  
"I don't know what they are," Ranma said. "But when we're done I 'spect at least some people ta still be up and around afterwards." Ranma laid back and stared up at the ceiling.  
"So you don't care if, say," Nabiki said. "Civilization falls because of you?"  
"The end justifies the means," Ranma said glumly. Nabiki flinched back at hearing one of her own rationalizations hurled back at her, even if he didn't know it.  
"By the way," Nabiki said after a moment to change the subject. "The engagement is ended." Ranma nodded, he'd expected that.  
"If I survive," Ranma said. "One of you can choose to be my second." Nabiki flinched at the reference to seppuku, wondering just how serious a comment that was.  
"Well," Kagome said. "It seems your father and this other girl will be coming here. She didn't seem to trust that Shippou would be able to protect her for some reason.  
  
*******  
  
"Are you going to come with us?" Inu-Yasha asked a shocked looking Kasumi. "Or do I have to carry you too?"  
Kasumi just stared at Akane, Mousse and Shampoo wrapped nearly head to toe in bent pipes collected from around the vacant lot. All three of them looked practically indignant.  
In theory, Kasumi could easily run, or in this case, fly away. However, one of the three people being dragged around by him was one of her sisters, and there was no way she could leave Akane behind.  
"I think I'll carry myself," Kasumi said in calm voice, despite not feeling at all calm.  
"Good," Inu-Yasha said. "At least one of you has sense." Of course, had Kagome been there, she would have been saying the same thing while including Inu-Yasha in the comment.  
  
*******  
  
It was only a few minutes later that everybody had more or less been gathered at Kagome's shrine. This was followed by a free floor show for the younger generation.  
"INU-YASHA!!!" Kagome shouted as she glanced around the pipe-wrapped hengeyokai.  
"What?" the half-demon asked, confused. "You said bring them, I brought them."  
"I said," Kagome drawled out. "Invite them!!! Not hog tie them with pieces of metal and drag them here like some sort of strange fish you caught in the river!!!"  
"They didn't exactly respond in a friendly manner to the invitation," Inu-Yasha said. "So I 'invited' them another way."  
"SIT!!!" Kagome shouted in a frustrated voice.   
It irked Inu-Yasha to no end that, no matter how powerful he got, no matter the fact that the necklace wasn't much more than a momento any longer. No matter all of that, he STILL couldn't stop her from plowing his face into the ground with that word.  
"And you!" Kagome said rounding on Shippou. The fox-boy gave a timid eep and jumped back. "I sent you to protect them! Not faint at first sign of trouble. Especially not when there isn't any trouble!! You'r over four hundred years old, Shippou!! You aren't a little kid any more."  
"Uhhh," Shippou had almost forgotten in the long period between the era of battles and the modern day time that Kagome's temper was so intimidating. He kind of wished that he could go back and forth through the well to, then he WOULD have had an excuse. He slammed himself into the floor before Kagome could say "sit" or something similar.  
Kagome sighed, shook her head frustratedly and turned to meet the new comers.  
"Sorry for the trouble," she said. "My husband will be apologizing later, and then I'll explain why you were brought here."  
After Shampoo was ungagged, Kagome began to seriously reconsider at least that one guest.  
"Great Grandmother be missing us soon," Shampoo said. "When she come, you outsider and demon be very wet smear on the ground."  
"Your granny could take one of 'em on," Ranma said grimmly. "Maybe win, maybe not. But no way she's takin' both."  
Virtually all the hengeyokai turned to glare at Ranma angrily. Even Kasumi leveled a harsh stare at the heavily bandaged fox. Nabiki ignored the comment, however, not wanting to think of anyone else being that powerful. She suspected Ranma might be able to give them a run, though.  
Sayuri was busy staring at Kagome trying to decide if this was the Kagome, or just someone that looked like her.  
"Can we get to the point of why you dragged all of us here?" Nabiki asked.  
"Literally," Mousse noted with a grudge.  
"You said you had information for us," Nabiki continued, ignoring the peanut gallery. "What is it?"   
"That story begins around four hundred years ago," Kagome said. She continued the sentence in her own thoughts. ~Or a month, depending on what your relationship to the time stream is.~  
"Long ago," Kagome said. "A girl appeared wearing strange garments in a village that used to sit here where Tokyo sprawls now. Within a few days time she had accidentally shattered something called the Shikon Jewel, sending it's shards all across Japan."  
"I know the story of Kagome," Nabiki said.  
"As do I," Sayuri said. "She's supposed to be my ancestor." Kagome and Inu-Yasha blinked and looked to Sayuri for a moment, curious.  
"You can't imagine how glad I am to here that," Kagome said, hand almost darting to her stomach. Inu-Yasha nodded and looked over the girl that had just claimed to be his descendant.  
Nabiki noted the exchange and considered how Kagome's age could be "complicated." She thought about the well in shrine's yard and the curious warping it gave her senses.  
"Get back on track," Shampoo commanded irritably. Kagome and Inu-Yasha glared at her.  
"Okay," Kagome said finally, glancing furitively at Sayuri. "Anyway, and this part isn't in the myths I think, one of these shards eventually came into the possession of a young man on the road to become a martial artist.  
"However," Kagome said. "He was quite lazy and wanted an easier route to power. He became a sorcerer, but found that this too required a great deal of discipline. He hadn't the...moral quality necessary to be a monk, not even a perverted one with a thing for hitting on and groping every pretty girl he saw."  
"Isn't that Sango's problem now?" Inu-Yasha asked.   
"Not when I'm the pretty girl," Kagome said.  
"WHAT?!!" Inu-Yasha growled. "I'll kill him, I'll..."  
"Oh, I remember that," Shippou said. "Sango got mad at Miroku for some sarcastic comment and she hit him a little harder than she thought. So him being punch drunk sort of mistook Kagome for her. Ahh...those were the days."   
He sighed revelling in the memories of the two humans that could have been considered his adoptive parents. Now he really wished he could travel back through the well like Kagome or Inu-Yasha.  
"So that's what he was mumbling to himself," Kagome said.  
"What about the damn demons the pervert over there says we're supposed to be fighting!" Akane demanded angrily.  
"Yeah, yeah," Inu-Yasha said. "Whatever."  
"Okay," Kagome said. "Well, to make a long story short."  
"Too late," Shampoo and Sayuri said at once.  
"You see that movie too?" Shampoo asked the school girl.  
"Oh I own a copy!" Sayuri said. "I especially like the part where Tim Curry is going and you were there and you were there and you were there."  
"And then whole bunch of people all yell," Shampoo said.  
"GET ON WITH IT!!!" came the chorus of shouts. Shampoo and Sayuri exchanged sheepish looks. Well Sayuri was sheepish.  
"Oh my," Kasumi said. "That was quite loud."  
"Is good movie," Shampoo said, folding her arms and pouting in a very cat-like manner.  
"Anyway!" Kagome shouted. "At this point he got the shard..."  
"He who?" Mousse asked.  
"The sorcerer," Kagome said.  
"I heard martial artist," Ranma said.  
"Wasn't he a pervert?" Akane said.  
"You think every villain is a pervert, Akane," Nabiki added. Kagome was about to give up and just proceed to "sit" everyone, when she was saved.  
"Couldn't we please cease the interruptions," Kasumi asked a little harshly. There was just something about the tone of voice that calmed everyone down.  
"OKAY!!!" Kagome said. She took a deep breath. "The perverted martial arts sorcerer got a hold of a shikon shard and then crafted a spell to summon a demon from beyond our known universe to bind with him and give him power!" She took another breath, and sent a glare threatening death to any that would try to interrupt her.  
"He summoned the demon and made his deal with it," Kagome continued, talking quickly. "However, due to his possession of the shard he overcame it and with it's power quickly became the greatest martial artist and sorcerer of his and several other generations. At least, he said so."  
"Kagome," Shippou muttered. "You're turning purple."  
"I could finish the story," Inu-Yasha offered. Both received icy cold glares of death.  
"She's still good at those," Shippou comment as he cowered against the wall.   
"She's gotten better," Inu-Yasha said, having weathered the storm slightly better. A silly, half-panicked smile was plastered to his face until Kagome started to tell the story again. At which point he breathed, as quietly as possible, a sigh of relief.  
"He needed to leave the gate open so that he would continually have power and the demon chi he absorbed would continue to be refreshed." Kagome said. "So he left a lock on the gate so that most sorcerers would not be able to affect it. This let a host of these alien demons in. The only thing worse are the spirits of the restless dead," though, then again, she had special reason to be biased against those. "We fought them and managed to shut the gate to an open crack, but this took a great toll."  
"He killed twelve hengeyokai to do it, resting the key to shutting the gate in the hands of that type of spirit. Which is why there needs to be twelve of you. One living aura to cancel out and free each of the sealed dead souls. One cat, one dog, one raven, one bat, one tanuki, one sparrow, one fox, one pig, one badger, one rabbit, one rat, one crane. It is also why they need twelve demons to open the gate to it's full width again. They need twelve demons to take in each of the twelve sealed souls and unleash the lock. This has to happen all on the same day, or else the spirits return to their seals and everything remains the way it is. This is difficult because while the focus of the gate is the Tendo dojo, and that's where the hengeyokai were killed on that land, that is not where they were bound."  
"So that's..." Ranma said.  
"I'm NOT FINISHED!!!" Kagome shouted.  
"Sorry," Ranma eeped. "What else is there?"  
"Uhhh...." Kagome paused. "Ooops, that was it."   
There was another mass facefault.  
"So we got seven hengeyokai now," Nabiki said, noting Inu-Yasha shaking his head. "All we need is the remaining five and then the locations of where these souls are bound."  
"You still need six," Inu-Yasha said.  
"But isn't Shippou..." Akane asked, pointing at the other fox-boy, the one she didn't hate.  
"Another fox," Nabiki said, smacking her head. "Damn it, we can't catch a break." Shippou grumbled about being labled "another fox" and dismissed like that. But then again, he was the one fainting at a mortal's scare tactic.  
"So how we gonna learn where these souls are?" Ranma asked, he wasn't worried too much about the other hengeyokai. He somehow suspected that they'd come to him eventually.  
"Well, for that," Kagome said. "We'll have to ask the sorcerer himself. He has no desire to see the world overrun by these things either, but he doesn't want the gate closed. So we'll probably have to fight or trick him, the good news is that the same is true of the demons. The bad news is that he vanished about ten years ago."  
Soun paled.  
"This sorcerer wouldn't happen to be named, Happosai," the older martial artist asked. "Would he?"  
"That's him," Kagome said. "Perverted little freak, got made a worse pervert after he absorbed that demon. Do you know him?"  
Soun fainted.  
  
*******  
  
"Ungrateful boy," Genma muttered. "How dare he ruin all my plans like this." He paled as he considered that he'd have to relate this information to Nodoka.  
"There's nothing for it by to find him and beat some sense into him," Genma declared. "If he doesn't take my head off first, that is." He glanced around nervously for any animal that seemed to be acting suspiciously.  
"I think I can help you here," a voice said.  
"Who is that?" Genma demanded, getting into stance.  
"Someone that can help you," was the answer as a young boy stepped into view. Genma looked him over for a moment.  
"And how could I young pantyhose freak like you be able to help me?" Genma asked. The young "man's" eyes twitched for a moment.  
"Trust me," he said irritably. "I can give you all the power you need to bring your boy into submission."  
"What, is this some new martial art technique?" Genma asked.  
"You could say that," Pantyhose-demon said. "And the training is very easy." He didn't know just how ironic that particular sentence in reference to Genma Saotome. 


	12. Updates Chapter Status

Okay people...here's the deal.  
  
  
I'm almost afraid to post this.  
  
  
I have scripted out (meaning outlined) the following  
fics to following extent  
  
  
Marriage Wishes to the end, it has somewhere between  
one and three chapters left, it was never meant to a  
long lasting fic  
  
Family Trees to the end, it has five more chapters  
left  
  
Hengeyokai, I ONLY have the last scene scripted, what  
happens in between is rather vague at the moment.  
  
Ranma Neko, the teaser for four has grown a little, as  
you'd see if you checked ff.net, but nothing else  
  
Martial Artists and Mayhem: Third Edition to the end.   
there are twelve more chapters and an epilogue planned  
  
Razor's Edge to the end. It has six more chapters in  
it. For those of you on the ffml and such that don't  
know what Razor's Edge is, that's a Gold Digger fic of  
mine centering around Lydia McKracken and Raphiel Rey.  
I haven't posted it on FFML yet because I'm not sure  
if Gold Digger counts as anime/manga  
  
Lost Innocence has three sequels planned, each will be  
a long one shot I WILL NOT CONTINUE BEYOND THAT.   
"Single Rose", "Lost and Found", "Vengeance and  
Redemption"  
  
Ryoko Saotome has two side stories planned "Diplomacy"  
and "Joketsuzoku Musk."   
  
Ryoko Saotome also has a sequel outlined "The New  
Saotomes" which focuses on the older two of Ryoko and  
Ranma's children (Akane and Tenchi at about 23 and 25  
respectively, about five years after the epilogue of  
Ryoko Saotome). All of it's 18 chapters are outlined  
with what I want to have happen in that chapter. It  
will have a Gold Digger crossover adding in. (yes, I  
like the comic phbt)  
  
Past that there is another Ryoko Saotome sequel  
planned, "The Ryoko/Saotome Template" but not  
completely outlined that focuses on Tenchi's daughter  
(Lina Saotome age 17, minor Slayers fusion here) and  
Akane's son (Jason Hibiki age 21) and they're first  
cousins so no icky thoughts. I was originally  
thinking this would coincide with the Shadow War  
building up in Gold Digger, but have since realized  
that the Shadow War will happen between "NS: Epilogue"  
and the beginning of "Template" so I'll have to find  
another collosal threat....considering the amount I'm  
gettin inundated with it over here in Korea,  
Starcraft's Zerg seem likely...  
  
After that...yes people...there is still more...there  
is a Side Story "Freedom" planned that will be VERY  
short and happen about eight hundred years after the  
epilogue of "Template"  
  
Finally, there will be a last eighten chapter sequel  
about two thousand years after "Freedom." "Ryoko of  
the Saotome" will focus around a young woman of the  
Saotome species that happens to look almost exactly  
like one of its two originators, she is a historian  
and researcher into the Template theory (see below).   
Within the first three chapters she will be  
interviewing someone that was recovered and woken up  
from an ancient stasis pod.  
  
Neither of the last two are yet outlined though.  
  
Now...I have all this planned....but  
  
  
BUT  
  
  
BUTTTTTTT!!!!  
  
Here's the kicker folks...  
  
I also have scripted/outlined 36 chapters (the first  
one was around 34 k) and 9 asides (prologues for the  
various sections with an epilogue instead of a  
prologue for the last section. The first of these was  
about 11 k) for an original project that could turn  
into at the very LEAST three books...and since I have  
found it takes me about a day (well five to six hours  
actually, but anyway) to write 34 k fan fics, I figure  
I can write a few good chapters of that with the help  
of my prereaders on that project (already picked) over  
a longer course of time, I would like to focus on  
that...and NO I will not post that anywhere, though  
people that ask me will probably get to hear a little  
about it. 


End file.
